Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-13

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 advantages and disadvantages about living in London. While, the line graph compares the major problems (litter, air quality, noise) are conducted over a three-year period.

Overall, the main advantage about living in London is the availability of shops, whereas the main drawback is the cost of living. Litter is the biggest problem throughout the period.

Among 3 years, people prefer to live in London because of the range of shops, about 45% people shared similar opinion. In terms of job opportunities, approximately 38% in year-1; then it experienced decreased about 35% in both year-2 and 3. While, transportaion is less available, in year-1 around 25%, in year-2 about 24% and in year-3 approximately 25%.

By contrast, the most popular drawbacks is high cost of living, in year-1 aroud 60%. Followed by traffic coongestion about 59% in both year1 and 2. In addition, people agree that litter are the major problem for them, it began at 70% in year-1 and gradually declined to about 68% in year-3. Air quality, around 67% of people agree with this in year-1 and in year-3 it dropped slightly to about 66%. Noise always remains less problamatic around 59% in year-1, 58% in year-2, and 55% in year-3.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the broad pattern that shops are the leading advantage and cost of living a major drawback, and your overview also notes that litter is the most prominent of the three problems. However, coverage is uneven and several figures or comparisons are inaccurate. For example, transport is reported at roughly 25%, 24% and 25%, whereas the chart shows about 22%, 20% and 21.5%. Traffic congestion is not around 59% in both the first two years: it is about 55.5% in each. The litter, air-quality and noise figures also do not match the chart, particularly the claimed small declines. You omit notable categories such as mixture of people and museums, and do not clearly summarise changes across the drawbacks. Select key comparisons and check each figure against the chart.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The report has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for advantages and disadvantages. This makes the main topic and broad comparisons easy to follow. Some linking is effective, including “Overall” and “By contrast,” but progression within paragraphs is less controlled. “Among 3 years” does not clearly introduce a comparison, and the sentence beginning “While, transportaion…” is an incomplete contrast rather than a well-connected sentence. The final paragraph also moves through several categories without consistently distinguishing the three charts. Grouping related figures and using clearer year-by-year comparisons would improve cohesion. Check that each linking expression connects complete, logically related clauses.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary such as “advantages and disadvantages,” “job opportunities,” “traffic congestion,” and “air quality,” so the reader can understand the subject. There is some attempt at variety through phrases such as “main drawback” and “gradually declined.” However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or repetitive: “advantages and disadvantages about living” is less natural than “advantages and disadvantages of living,” and “people prefer to live… because of” does not precisely describe survey responses. Spelling errors such as “transportaion,” “aroud,” “coongestion,” and “problamatic” are noticeable. Use precise reporting language and proofread spelling; alternatives are provided below.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex forms, including a contrast with “whereas” and a time clause introduced by “While.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors recur in agreement, articles, and sentence construction. “While, the line graph compares the major problems … are conducted” incorrectly joins clauses and uses an unsuitable verb form; “the most popular drawbacks is” has a subject–verb agreement error; and “litter are the major problem” also has incorrect agreement. Several fragments or comma splices appear, such as “In terms of job opportunities, approximately 38% in year-1.” Build complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check singular/plural agreement and punctuation.

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