Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-05

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 5.0)

The bar graph compares the number of french adults who grew up listening to their parents speak a french regional language to them with the number who speak a french regional language to their own children.

Overall, the bar graph comparing adults whose parents spoke a regional language to them in childhood shows that Occitan language was widely spoken. While Corsican language was the least spoken. Furthermore, adults prefer speaking Alsatian language to their own children.

Alsatian language was spoken by 600 parents habitually and about 200 to 300 adults occasionally. Occitan language was spoken by around 600 parents habitually and more than 1m parents occasionaly. Breton by more than 200 people habitually and 100 parents occasionally. COrsican language was spoken by less than a 100 habitually and by 100 parents occasionally.

Alsatian language is spoken by 400 adults, Occitan is spoken by more than 200 adults, Breton is spoken by less than a 100 adults and Corsican is spoken by around 50 adults to their own children.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response addresses the task only partially, and the length requirement is not met, as the text falls four words short of the 150-word minimum once copied prompt material is excluded. While the student attempts to provide an overview and report some data points from the charts, the coverage is incomplete and contains several inaccuracies in reading the visual data. For instance, Occitan occasional speakers are misreported, and the data for habitual and occasional speakers is sometimes confused. The overview attempts to highlight key points regarding Occitan and Corsican, but the lack of accurate data selection and development prevents a higher score. To improve, you must ensure all parts of the chart are accurately reported, select key trends rather than random figures, and strictly meet the minimum word count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is some basic organization present, with an introductory sentence, an overview paragraph, and body paragraphs attempting to group data. However, there is no clear overall progression, and the arrangement of information feels disjointed. Paragraphing is attempted, but sentences within paragraphs are somewhat isolated rather than logically linked. Cohesive devices are very basic and repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'and' or mechanical transitions like 'Furthermore'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, making it difficult to follow the relationship between data points. To enhance coherence, you should group related data logically—such as comparing habitual versus occasional speakers across languages—and use a wider variety of cohesive phrases to guide the reader smoothly through the report.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to convey basic information about the charts. There are noticeable errors in word choice and data description, such as writing 'Occasionaly' with a spelling error and misusing terms like 'more than 1m parents occasionaly' when describing the charts. Vocabulary remains quite repetitive, relying heavily on words like 'language', 'spoken', and 'parents' throughout the response. Less common lexical items are rarely attempted, and word forms are sometimes imprecise. To reach a higher band, you need to incorporate a broader range of vocabulary, including synonyms and less common functional terms for describing data trends, such as 'proportion', 'considerably', 'widespread', or 'minority', while ensuring accurate spelling and word choice.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing displays a very limited range of structures, consisting mostly of simple sentences repetitively structured around the subject-verb-object pattern, such as '[Language] was spoken by...'. Attempts at complex sentences are absent, and there are frequent errors in capitalization (e.g., 'french', 'COrsican') and minor punctuation issues. Prepositions and articles are sometimes omitted or misused within basic patterns. Because the grammatical range is restricted and errors occur with some frequency, the control over sentence forms remains basic. To improve, you should incorporate a variety of complex sentence structures, such as participial phrases or subordinate clauses to compare data, while paying careful attention to capitalization, articles, and overall sentence variety.

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

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