Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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

Number of adults (in thousands) whose parents spoke a regional language to them in childhood

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The bar charts demonstrates the number of French youngs whose parents spoke five different local French languages to them in thier childhood and also the number who speak to thier own pupils.

Overall, Alastian, Occitan, Breton, Creole and Corsican were spoken more ocassionally than habitually to youngs in thier childhood. While, for youngs to communicate with their child, Alastian and Occitan outnumberd other languages.

To begin with languages spoken with youngs in thier childhood, Occitan had significant popularity with approimately 1.2 million speakers formally and 600 thousands usually. Alsatian ranked second with almost 600 and 200 thousands speakers regularly and formally respectively. Moreover, the remaining three languages were commonly spoken formally than typically.

Moving to the language speaking trends and numbers youngs practice with thier children, Alsatian has significant 400 thousand speakers, followed by Occitan approximately 2500 thousand ones. The numbers for remaining three languages remains below nearly 100 thousand speaker. The Alsatian and Occitan remains popular in both era.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify both charts and provide an overview, noting that occasional speech was generally more common in childhood and that Alsatian and Occitan lead in communication with the next generation. These are relevant comparisons. However, the overview is not fully accurate: Occitan, not Alsatian, has the highest figure for speaking to children, and the childhood figures show a particularly large gap between Occitan spoken occasionally (about 1.065 million) and the other languages. There are also important numerical errors: Occitan spoken habitually is about 620,000, not 1.2 million, and the figure for Occitan spoken to children is about 250,000, not 2.5 million. The report selects relevant features, but inaccurate data and limited comparison leave parts of the task only partially addressed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction and overview are followed by one paragraph on childhood speech and another on speaking to children. Phrases such as “To begin with” and “Moving to” help signal the shift between charts, and the main comparisons are generally easy to follow. This gives the report a coherent progression. However, some linking is mechanical or awkward, particularly “While, for youngs…” and the repeated use of “Moreover” and “followed by.” The final sentence repeats the overview rather than adding a distinct concluding comparison. To strengthen cohesion further, connect figures through direct contrasts—for example, compare each language’s childhood use with its use by parents today—and use clearer references instead of repeating broad phrases such as “the remaining three languages.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt a range of vocabulary suited to describing charts, including “ranked second,” “significant popularity,” and “followed by.” However, word choice and spelling errors are noticeable and sometimes make the intended meaning difficult to interpret. “Youngs” is not an appropriate noun for children, while “pupils” changes the meaning of the task; “formally” and “usually” are also unsuitable substitutes for “occasionally” and “habitually.” Several spellings, including “thier,” “ocassionally,” and “approimately,” reduce accuracy. Some phrases, such as “language speaking trends and numbers youngs practice,” are not natural English. Build a more reliable set of chart-description terms and use the exact categories from the visual, especially when distinguishing habitual from occasional speech.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The report attempts both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast introduced by “While” and a sequence of comparisons. However, control is inconsistent, and errors in sentence structure and agreement recur. The opening, “The bar charts demonstrates,” has a plural subject with a singular verb; “While, for youngs…” is a dependent clause presented as a sentence fragment. Later, “The numbers … remains” and “The Alsatian and Occitan remains” also show subject–verb disagreement. Tense shifts between “had,” “has,” and “remains” are not consistently controlled when describing chart data. Aim for complete sentences and check that verbs agree with their subjects; use the present simple consistently for chart descriptions. These corrections would make the information easier to understand.

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