Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-08

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 the line graph illustrates a survey about the best and worst things about living London city.

Overall, According to the maximum people, the best thing about london is the range of shops and the worst thing is traffic congestion over three years. Also, most of the people agree that litter is a major problem in the city.

Almost 45 percent of the people said in that survey that range of shops is a best thing about London over the given three years. Following that, almost 38 percent of people agree that job opporunities and mixture of people are the best things. In year 1, museums and art gallaries were voted 30 percent. It increased gradually and stands at 35 percent in year 3. Night life and transport were said best by about 25 percent people.

In year 1, cost of living were voted by 57 percent people as worst thing in London city but it decreased almost 7 percent over the years and stand at 50 percent at year 3. Similarly, traffic congestion and crime were high almost 56 percent but decreased 5 to 10 percent over the years. Around 35 percent of the people agreed that cost of housing and transport were the worst thing about the city

In year 1, air quality and noise were the major problem said by 65 and 58 percent respectively people when asked. The percentage decreased gradually over the years and stand at 63 and 56 percent respectively. In contrast, Litter was 70 percent in year 1, then a slight increase is seen and peaked in year 2 by 75 percent almost. After that the percentage slightly decreased and stand at 68 percent.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the positive and negative aspects and the separate problems chart, and your overview identifies the range of shops, traffic congestion and litter as prominent features. Several comparisons are relevant: for example, you note that litter peaks in Year 2 and that cost of living falls before ending near 50%. However, some figures and trends are inaccurate or too broadly stated. Museums and art galleries rise from about 29% to 34.5%, rather than 30% to 35% “gradually”; traffic congestion is about 55.5% in both Years 1 and 2 before falling to 49%, while crime drops sharply and then edges up. The final figures for air quality and noise are also misstated. More precise reporting of these changes would make the coverage more reliable and balanced.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The report has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs covering the positive features, negative features and major problems. This makes the information broadly easy to follow. You also use sequencing and contrast markers such as “Following that,” “Similarly” and “In contrast.” However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes list-like, and some links do not clearly show the relationship between the figures. For instance, “Similarly” introduces traffic congestion and crime even though their trends differ, while the final paragraph moves between air quality, noise and litter without a concise comparison. Use clearer grouping and refer consistently to the three years so that each paragraph develops a focused comparison rather than a series of separate statements.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing survey results, including “decreased,” “peaked,” “percentage” and “major problem,” and the reader can generally understand your comparisons. However, the range and control are uneven, with repeated reliance on “best thing,” “worst thing” and “people agree.” Some word choices and collocations are unnatural, such as “voted by 57 percent people,” “said in that survey,” and “stands at 35 percent.” There are also spelling errors in “opporunities” and “gallaries,” which reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise reporting verbs and natural chart language, such as “was cited as,” “accounted for” and “rose to,” while checking spelling and avoiding repeated phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses with “when asked” and contrasts introduced by “In contrast.” Meaning is usually recoverable, but some grammatical errors recur. Subject–verb agreement is inconsistent in “The given bar charts and the line graph illustrates” and “cost of living were voted”; tense and verb forms are also faulty in “decreased … and stand at 50 percent.” Articles and sentence punctuation need attention, as in “a best thing” and the capitalised “According” after a comma. Several sentences also omit necessary grammatical links, for example “said by 65 and 58 percent respectively people.” Review agreement, past-tense consistency and article use, then proofread each sentence for a complete, natural structure.

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