Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-16

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 chart and the line graph illustrate the result of a public survey conducted over the period of three years to know people's opinion about the life at London.

Overall, in terms of good aspects of the city, most of the people were satisfied about the availability of shopping centres. In contrast, in terms of drawbacks, cost of living, traffic problems and crime were major disadvantages of London city.

In detail, the best things about the city were as following: just above 40% people were happy with the range of shopping malls that city offers, slightly below 40% of individuals were positive about the employment opportunities and meeting with different people, respectively. The positve reviews about the availability of museums&art galleries, night life and transport were between 20% and 30%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the survey’s subject and give a brief overview, correctly noting that shopping was the leading positive feature and that living costs, congestion and crime were prominent drawbacks. However, the report is incomplete: it describes only the positive bar chart and does not report the negative-chart figures or the line graph on litter, air quality and noise. Some details are also imprecise: “slightly below 40%” groups employment and meeting different people, although the latter is around 34–36%, and the shopping figure varies across the years. The response is also below the required 150 words. To address the task more fully, compare key changes across all three visuals and support the overview with accurate figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview beginning “Overall,” and a detail paragraph. This helps the reader follow the basic distinction between positive and negative aspects. However, progression is limited because the final paragraph covers only the positive features, while the negative aspects and line-graph results are not developed. The phrase “In detail” signals a move to evidence, but the paragraph then gives broad ranges rather than organised year-by-year comparisons. Linking words such as “In contrast” are relevant, though the contrast is not followed by supporting detail. A clearer sequence—overview, positive-chart comparisons, negative-chart comparisons, then line-graph trends—would make the report more complete and cohesive.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic vocabulary, including “availability,” “employment opportunities,” “drawbacks” and “major disadvantages,” and the meaning is generally clear. Some choices are unnatural or imprecise for a formal chart report: “to know people’s opinion about the life at London,” “happy with the range of shopping malls,” and “positive about … meeting with different people.” There is also a spelling error in “positve,” and “museums&art galleries” needs conventional spacing and punctuation. Prefer concise, standard collocations such as “residents’ views of life in London” and “rated the range of shops highly.” More precise vocabulary for describing proportions and changes would also help you report the data accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, including the overview sentence beginning “Overall” and the longer sentence listing several positive features. Most of the message remains understandable, but some grammatical patterns are inaccurate. For example, “the period of three years” needs an article or a different construction, and “people’s opinion” should be plural when referring to survey respondents generally. In “the best things … were as following,” the phrase is not grammatically formed; use “were as follows.” The construction “slightly below 40% of individuals were positive about …” is also awkwardly structured. Check articles, plural forms and sentence patterns, and use a wider range of accurate comparisons to describe the three years.

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.