Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-07
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The bar charts and line graph below show the results of a survey conducted over a three-year period to discover what people who live in London think of the city.
Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below.
What are the best things about living in London?
Student answer (Band 5.5)
This survey represents peoples opinion living in london. they share the positives and negatives according to their experience. It was conducted in a three year duration.
First of all the advantages of living in london is not changes much in the three year duration. overall the range of shops are agreed by over 45% of people to be the reason for living in london, Second being alot of job opportunities which is agreed by 35% of people. While the variety of people is also in the same spot, because there are some many different people in london.
On to the negatives we can see from year 1 that more then 55% of the people agree that three reasons are the biggest setback on london's reputation, these being traffic congession, cost of living and crime. But by year 3 crime as a reason has dropped to 35%.
Lastly the major problem faced by people in year 1 has been litter with 70% people agreeing on it, this increased to 75% in year 2 and then dipped again in year 3 to 70%. The second reason air quality has maintained a stable position in 65%.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the charts, but the analysis is somewhat superficial. While you identify key trends, such as the stability of 'shops' and the fluctuation of 'litter', the report lacks a clear overview or summary of the data. The description of the negatives is slightly confusing, particularly the grouping of 'traffic congestion, cost of living and crime' as a single statistic. To improve, ensure you clearly distinguish between different data points and provide a more cohesive summary of the overall trends rather than just listing percentages. The report addresses the prompt but lacks the analytical depth required for a higher band.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is quite mechanical and sometimes inaccurate. For example, 'On to the negatives' and 'First of all' are used, but the transition between ideas within paragraphs is often abrupt. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as when you mention 'three reasons' without explicitly linking them to the specific data labels in the chart. Improving the use of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence would significantly enhance the flow of your writing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it is repetitive and lacks precision. You rely on basic verbs like 'is', 'are', and 'agreed'. There are also some errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'peoples opinion' (people's opinions), 'alot' (a lot), and 'congession' (congestion). To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more varied vocabulary to describe trends, such as 'fluctuated', 'remained stable', 'declined', or 'accounted for'. Expanding your range of synonyms will help you express the data more effectively.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('advantages... is not changes'), punctuation errors (missing apostrophes in 'londons'), and incorrect preposition usage. Additionally, sentence construction is sometimes awkward, such as 'the range of shops are agreed by over 45% of people'. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors in basic grammar and sentence structure prevents the response from reaching a higher band. Focus on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and basic punctuation.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.