Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-01

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 bar charts illustrate the findings of a three years study conducted on the opinion of people about living in London. Studies are focused on five good and bad things. While, the line graph gives information about three things that are considered as a crucial issue in London. Unites are measured in percentages.

Overall, availabity of different shops were at a peak for all three years and are considered as a good things of London. On the other hand, transport facilities were at the lowest point for all years. The high living expenses in London were top of the list of worst thing as compared to transports. Majority of people, believed that litter was the serious issue in this city.

Considering the good features of London, there were around 45% of shop variability in the first year followed by decline in the last year. The number of museums and art centres increased from 30 to nearly 38 in the last year.

Around 58% people thought cost of living, traffic congestion and crime as negative aspect of London in the first year. There was gradual decrease in the last year for all three things.

Among problems, city garbage was at highest serious issue over the given period starting from 70% considering people to ending at around 68%. Noise was least challenge faced by people.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the main features of the charts, but the treatment is somewhat mechanical and includes several inaccuracies in the data reported. For example, the student writes that the number of museums and art centres increased 'from 30 to nearly 38 in the last year', whereas the charts show them rising to around 34.5. Similarly, the peak for the cost of living was around 57% in Year 1 rather than 58%, and the data for city garbage (litter) is misread at the end. While an overview is attempted in the second paragraph, it lacks precision. Some details are selected and highlighted, but the overall development remains limited and features are under-developed or inaccurately cited, keeping the response at this band.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The report shows some general organisation with a clear introduction and paragraph divisions dedicated to different aspects of the charts. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression, and the sequencing of ideas feels disjointed at times. Cohesive devices are used mechanically or somewhat inaccurately, such as the abrupt transition 'While, the line graph gives information...' and the imprecise use of referencing like 'all three things'. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion within paragraphs is weak, meaning the relationships between ideas are not always transparently managed. The overall arrangement provides a basic structure, but progression throughout the response is faulty.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, but the range is limited and repetition occurs (for example, repeating 'year' and 'things'). There are noticeable lexical and spelling errors that stem from attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'availabity', 'shop variability', and 'transports'. Collocation is occasionally unnatural, as seen in 'least challenge faced by people' or 'city garbage was at highest serious issue'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a restricted control of word choice and word formation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but the range remains limited and control is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles, plurals, and subject-verb agreement. Examples include 'a three years study' instead of 'a three-year study', 'good things of London' instead of 'good things about London', and 'transport facilities were at the lowest point for all years'. Prepositions and clause structures are also mishandled in places, such as 'considering people to ending at around 68%'. These frequent errors in basic and complex structures cause some difficulty for the reader.

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.