Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-30

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 bar graph illustrate the number of aged parents measured in thousands who were exposed to five different languages during thier childhood categorized by whether the language was spoken by thier parents habitually or occasionally.

Overall, it is clear that occitan was by a high number of occasional most widely spoken regional language largely driven by a high number of ocassional speakers, in contrast alsatian stood out at the only language that was spoken habitually. Meanwhile breton, creole, and Corscian recorded significantly lower numbers across both categories

Looking atthe specific data Aistian was the only language where habitual use exceeded occasional use, with a significantly larger number of adults hearing it regularly compare to those who heard it sometimes. in contrast Occitan recordedthe highest number of occasional speakeers among all listed languages while its habitual use remained noticeably lower.

regarding the remaining languages Breton showed a moderate figure for occasional use through the habitual speakers where relatively few finally cereole and corsican registered the lowest numbers,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student makes a strong attempt to describe the main trends and features of the chart, correctly identifying Occitan as having the highest figures overall and noting the contrast with Alsatian. However, there are some inaccuracies in data interpretation. For instance, the student states that Alsatian was the only language where habitual use exceeded occasional use, whereas the chart shows Alsatian habitual as 600 and occasional as 240, which is correct, but the second chart regarding adults speaking to their own children is omitted or conflated, and some descriptions of the data categories are imprecise. Furthermore, the overview lacks complete clarity regarding the secondary chart provided in the prompt. Despite these minor misinterpretations, the main response addresses the core components of the visual data. This places the performance firmly at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is structured into an introduction and several body paragraphs, providing an overall logical arrangement. Paragraphing is attempted, though some paragraphs run together or lack proper punctuation boundaries (e.g., lowercase beginnings and missing periods between sentences like 'Looking atthe specific data Aistian...'). Cohesive devices are used, but sometimes clumsily or mechanically ('Meanwhile', 'In contrast', 'regarding the remaining languages'). Referential cohesion is occasionally weak, such as 'occitan was by a high number of occasional most widely spoken regional language'. Progression is visible, but faulty punctuation and awkward transitions detract from the flow, keeping the coherence at a Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, incorporating terms like 'habitually', 'occasionally', 'regional language', and 'category'. However, there are numerous lexical and spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'thier' instead of 'their', 'ocassional' instead of 'occasional', 'Aistian' instead of 'Alsatian', and 'cereole' instead of 'Creole'. Word choice is sometimes unnatural, as seen in 'occitan was by a high number of occasional most widely spoken regional language'. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses and comparative structures ('with a significantly larger number of adults hearing it regularly compare to those who heard it sometimes'). However, the text is severely impacted by basic mechanical and grammatical errors, including a complete lack of capitalization at the beginning of sentences and proper nouns (e.g., 'the bar graph', 'occitan', 'alsatian', 'breton'), missing punctuation, and faulty verb agreements ('occitan was by a high number', 'through the habitual speakers where relatively few finally cereole and corsican'). These frequent errors reduce readability, aligning the grammar with a Band 5.0.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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