Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-09
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The charts below show the number of French adults whose parents spoke a French regional language to them when they were children and the number who speak a French regional language to their own children.
Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below.
Number of adults (in thousands) whose parents spoke a regional language to them in childhood
Student answer (Band 5.5)
The provided bar-charts illustrate the number of French adults whose parents used to speak regional language to them in their childhood, and the number of parents who speak French to their own offspring.
Overall, the adults whose parents spoke a regional language to them occasionally was Occitan, marked highest among other regional languages, whereas Corsican remained the least spoken language used occasionally among adults whose parents spoke in their childhood. Alsatian and Occitan remained highest in popularity among the adults whose parents spoke habitually with them in their childhood, whereas Corsican followed a similar pattern, failed to receive popularity among adults during heir childhood days. The trend followed the similar approach with the parents who speak regional language to their children for Alsatian, which remained popular among parents, while Corsican gained the least popularity among other languages.
Moving to the specifics of data , Alsatian and Occitan received considerable recognition among adults whose parents spoke French to them habitually accounted for 600, followed by Breton which accounted for around 300. Creole and Corsican remained least popular accounted for 100 and 80 respectively. By contrast, Occitan gained highest popularity in languages accounted for more than 1 million among parents who spoke occasionally to them. However, Breton recorded for 400 speakers, followed by Alsatian among 250 parents, whereas Creole and Corsican remained least popular with 100 and 110 parents respectively.
However, Alsatian gained the majority popularity among parents acco
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response attempts to address the task but fails to provide a clear or accurate overview of the data. The description of the charts is confusing, particularly the misinterpretation of the categories (e.g., confusing 'French' with 'regional languages' in the introduction and body). The data selection is inconsistent, and the report ends abruptly mid-sentence, leaving the final comparison incomplete. While some figures are cited, the lack of clarity regarding which chart is being described and the failure to complete the response significantly impacts the overall task achievement.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the progression of ideas is often illogical and difficult to follow. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Moving to the specifics of data' and 'By contrast', but they are sometimes used incorrectly or do not effectively link the confusing information. The referencing is frequently unclear, making it difficult for the reader to identify which language or category is being discussed. The abrupt ending further disrupts the coherence of the final paragraph.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The range of vocabulary is limited and repetitive. There are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'failed to receive popularity' and 'the trend followed the similar approach'. The student struggles to use precise terminology to describe statistical trends, often relying on vague phrasing. While the meaning is generally discernible, the lack of precision and the repetitive nature of the vocabulary prevent a higher score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include incorrect preposition usage, subject-verb agreement errors (e.g., 'Corsican... failed to receive popularity'), and awkward phrasing. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with unnecessary spaces before commas. These errors are noticeable and occasionally impede the flow of the text, though they do not completely obscure the intended meaning.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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