Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-30

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 given bar charts and line chart show the conclusion of the survey about what individual think about London over the period of three years.

In general overview, the best thing was range of shops and art galleries present in London and in worst opinion from the residents could be regarding cost of living and traffic congestion

It is evident from the bar chart that around 45% of citizens were attracted by range of shops available there. Surprisingly, equal proportion of masses satisfied with the job opportunities and folks interaction way, which they liked in London.

However, night life and transportation were at least priority among citizen of London. Apart from this, cost of living, traffic congestion, crime rate were found higher in 1 year, but it decrease

to some extent in 3rd year.

Moving ahead, cost of housing were remained constant since 3 year. Although transport used by masses were around 38% in 1 year, which was declined to a quarter in upcoming years. Furthermore, the significant proportion of masses were

complained about the litter in London instead of

air quality and noise.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response attempts to cover all parts of the visual data, including the best and worst things about living in London and the problems chart regarding litter, air quality, and noise. However, the selection of data is sometimes inaccurate or poorly generalised. For instance, stating that the cost of housing 'remained constant since 3 year' misinterprets the graph where fluctuations actually occurred, and some details are vague. Furthermore, the overview provided in the second paragraph is underdeveloped and disjointed. To reach a higher band, you need to provide a clearer, more comprehensive overview of major trends and ensure that specific data points are reported with greater accuracy without making sweeping generalisations.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The report shows some logical organisation with a basic introduction, body paragraphs, and an attempt at an overview. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression, and paragraphing is rather disjointed, with body points awkwardly split and sequenced. Cohesive devices are used mechanically or are sometimes inadequate, leading to abrupt transitions between sentences and ideas (for example, 'Moving ahead, cost of housing were remained constant...'). Pronoun referencing and substitution are also occasionally unclear. To improve Coherence and Cohesion, you should aim to structure your body paragraphs logically around key thematic groupings, ensuring smooth transitions between sentences and a more unified flow throughout the entire report.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, allowing you to convey basic points about the charts. However, the range is limited, and there is frequent reliance on simple or repetitive language. You attempt some less common vocabulary, such as 'proportion' and 'congestion', but these are accompanied by word-choice and collocation errors, such as 'folks interaction way' and 'at least priority'. Additionally, phrasing like 'worst opinion from the residents' is unnatural. To achieve a higher score, you should expand your lexical range by incorporating precise, academic vocabulary and collocations to describe statistical trends naturally and accurately without awkward phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Your grammar is characterised by a limited range of structures, with frequent errors that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. While you attempt some complex sentences, they are often faulty in construction. There are multiple issues with subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'range of shops' missing a determiner, 'cost of housing were remained', and 'crime rate were found higher in 1 year, but it decrease'. Punctuation and tense consistency also need attention. To improve in this area, you should focus on mastering basic sentence structures while gradually introducing complex forms accurately, paying close attention to grammatical agreements, tenses, and singular/plural forms.

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

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