Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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)

The data collected from a survey has been organized into the above given bar charts and line graph. The survey compares different preferences of people in London over a period of three years.

The appealing aspects of the city are primarily the range of shops, job opportunities and the diversity of individuals. Ranking slightly lower than these are the museums, night life and transport. The appeal for museums, galleries and nightlife has showed a gradual improvement over the years. While there has been a decline in people's approval in terms of job opportunities and mixture of people.

High proportion of individuals seem to agree on the downsides of the city that is the high cost of living, traffic congestion and crime. Cost of housing and transport are ranked relatively better. In the year 3 of the survey, significantly less individuals have indicated a Displeasure for cost of living, crime, traffic congestion and transport . On the other hand displeasure towards cost of housing has risen slightly.

People of London have indicated a major displeasure in terms of litter in the city, it has continuously ranked higher than air quality which is follwed by noise related pollution over the years. The distaste for the same peaked in the second year during data collection.

the survey provides information that can be adopted to ease the lives of Londeners.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The report covers the main features of the charts, but it lacks a clear overview of the trends. While you mention some specific categories, the response fails to provide a summary of the most significant data points or overall patterns. The analysis is somewhat superficial; for example, you mention 'a gradual improvement' or 'a decline' without clearly linking these to the specific timeframes or data values provided in the graphs. To improve, ensure you identify the most striking differences and trends at the beginning of your report. Additionally, some descriptions are vague, such as 'ranking slightly lower', which does not provide the reader with a clear understanding of the relative importance of these categories.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate. For instance, the transition 'On the other hand' is used to contrast a decrease in displeasure with an increase, but the flow between sentences within paragraphs is sometimes disjointed. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the final paragraph where 'the distaste for the same' is ambiguous. To improve, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensure that each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that guides the reader through the data logically.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the main points, but there are instances of imprecise word choice and minor errors. Phrases like 'mixture of people' and 'displeasure for cost of living' are slightly unnatural in this context. There is also a lack of variety in reporting verbs and descriptive adjectives. While you attempt to use some topic-specific vocabulary, such as 'traffic congestion' and 'air quality', the overall lexical control is limited. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise collocations and academic vocabulary related to data description, such as 'fluctuated', 'remained stable', or 'a significant proportion'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are several grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. For example, 'has showed' should be 'has shown', and 'significantly less individuals' should be 'significantly fewer individuals' (as 'individuals' is a countable noun). Additionally, there are issues with capitalization, such as 'Displeasure' and 'Londeners', and the lowercase 'the' at the start of the final paragraph. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they demonstrate a lack of control over complex structures and punctuation. Increasing the accuracy of subject-verb agreement and noun-adjective usage will improve your score.

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

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