Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-17

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 charts and line graph illustrate the results of a survey conducted over a three-years period to discover what people who lives in London thinks of the city.

Overall, it is evident that range of shops accounted the highest number of best things about living in London as well as cost of living accounted the highest number of worst things about living in London. On the other hand, graph shows that the litter was recorded the highest proportion of things a major problem in London.

To begin with, In the first chart range of shops stood at 45% in first years and than again 43% in second year also 42% in third year. Furthermore, job opportunities stood at 38% in first year and than increasing and decreasing in the next two years. In addition, mixture of people stood at 37% , museums & art galleries was recorded at the highest point of 36%. Similarly, night life stood at the highest point of 25% and transport stood at 35%.

On the other hand, the second chart illustrate that the cost of living stood at 67% and traffic congestion was 66%. Moreover, crime accounted at 67% and cost of housing was recorded at 38%. Furthermore, transport stood at 365.

The graph also shows that the litter was recorded at 70% in first year and rose to second year after it started falling.

Additionally, air quality stood at 65% in first year and after it also decreases swiftly over the given period.

Noise was recorded at 59% in first year and than starts falling to third year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the survey’s broad themes and include all three visuals, with a useful overview noting that shops were a leading positive feature and litter the most prominent problem. However, several figures and comparisons are inaccurate, which limits how fully the report represents the data. For example, transport in the first chart is about 20–22%, not 35%, and the second chart’s cost of living is about 49–57%, not 67%; transport there is about 27–35%, not “365.” Some descriptions are also too vague to convey change, such as saying job opportunities were “increasing and decreasing” without specifying the years. Select key comparisons and report them accurately, including the main trends across all three years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate sections for the positive features, negative features, and problems. This helps the reader follow the chart topics. However, progression within the paragraphs is often list-like, and linking phrases such as “Furthermore,” “In addition,” and “Similarly” are repeated without showing clear relationships between the figures. The final three observations about litter, air quality, and noise are split into short, disconnected statements. Group related trends and compare them directly—for example, explain together how all three reported problems declined over the period. Clearer paragraph development and more precise referencing would make the organisation more coherent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “accounted,” “proportion,” “stood at,” and “recorded,” and the topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited by repeated reporting phrases and several inaccurate or unnatural combinations, such as “accounted the highest number,” “stood at the highest point,” and “rose to second year.” “Highest number” is also imprecise when describing percentages. Use a wider set of accurate terms for describing data, such as “was the most frequently cited feature,” “increased slightly,” or “declined steadily.” More precise vocabulary would help distinguish a category’s ranking from its percentage and make comparisons easier to understand.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts some longer sentences and uses past-tense reporting, but grammatical errors occur frequently and sometimes make relationships between ideas unclear. Examples include “people who lives in London thinks,” where subject–verb agreement is incorrect, and “a three-years period,” where the compound modifier is not formed correctly. Articles and sentence structure are also problematic in “range of shops stood at 45% in first years” and “the second chart illustrate.” Several sentences rely on the same simple pattern, while attempts to connect clauses are not consistently controlled. Practise accurate agreement, articles, plurals, and past-tense forms, then build comparisons using controlled clauses such as “while” and “whereas.”

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