Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-03

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 charts illustrate the number of adult whose parents spoke a French regional language with them in their childhood, and number of adult who speak a French language to their own children.

Overall, Occitan accounted for the largest language who spoke parent with their adult in childhood. While, Corsican was the lowest language that parent spoke with their adult.

Number of adults, whose parent spoke both Alsatian and Occitan habitually accounted for the largest share at 600k individuals. Followed by, Breton language recorded approximately, 200k, which was higher than both creole and Corsican spoken recorded approximately, at 200k. Furthermore in occasionally spoken Occitan accounted for the largest share 1 million individuals, followed by Breton speakers recorded 400k. While, Alsatian speaker occasionally spoken accounted 250k people after a sharp decrease. Lastly, individuals spoke both creole and Corsican accounted at 100k.

Furthermore, adult who speak a Alsatian language to their children accounted for the largest share at 400k, followed by Occitan language recorded at 250k individuals approximately. Lastly, both creole and Corsican both recorded at approximately, 96k and 66k respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task only partially and covers the charts with some noticeable inaccuracies and confusion in the data. For instance, the student states that Occitan accounted for the largest language spoken to adults in childhood, but conflates habitual and occasional data in a confusing way. Several figures are misread or poorly reported, such as claiming Creole and Corsican were spoken occasionally at 200k, whereas the chart shows them much lower. The overview attempts to capture main trends but is vague and mechanical. To move to a higher band, the response needs to present a clearer and more accurate selection of key features from the charts, avoiding inaccurate data extraction and ensuring the overview captures the most significant overall patterns without getting lost in minor details.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some basic organisation with an attempt at an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion-like final sentence, but the response lacks a clear overall progression. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of information feels disjointed. Cohesive devices are used repetitively and sometimes inaccurately, with phrases like 'Furthermore', 'While', and 'Lastly' dominating the structure without establishing smooth logical connections between sentences. Pronoun referencing and referencing of categories are occasionally unclear, making it difficult to follow which data group is being discussed. To improve, the writer needs to ensure ideas flow logically from one to the next, use a wider and more natural variety of cohesive devices, and group related data into clearly structured, thematic paragraphs.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task, with noticeable errors that cause some difficulty for the reader. There are frequent lexical and word-formation errors, such as 'number of adult' instead of 'adults', 'language who spoke parent with their adult', and awkward phrasing like 'Alsatian speaker occasionally spoken accounted 250k people'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary related to data reporting, but inaccuracies in word choice and collocation are apparent throughout the text. To achieve a higher band, the writer must expand their lexical range, use precise terminology for describing data trends, and pay closer attention to word forms, plurals, and standard collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, relying heavily on simple sentence patterns and basic subject-verb-object constructions. When the student attempts more complex sentences, they are often faulty, featuring frequent errors in agreement, articles, and prepositions within grammatical patterns. Examples include 'Occitan accounted for the largest language who spoke parent', missing articles in 'adult who speak a Alsatian language', and incorrect verb forms like 'individuals spoke both creole'. These frequent errors require the reader to slow down and interpret the intended meaning. To improve, the writer needs to incorporate a wider variety of complex sentence forms while maintaining tighter control over basic grammar, verb agreement, and punctuation.

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

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