Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-18

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?

What are the best things about living in London?

Student answer (Band 5.0)

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.

Overall the figures showed different trends through out the periods.while as best thing range of shops accounted for highest share whereas in worst hings traffic congestion represented the largest proportion.In addition the major problem in london remained relatively stable.furthermore some categories experienced noticeable changes, whereas the line graph shows an downward trend throughout the period.

To begin with, regarding the bar chart, (highest category) recorded the highest figure at (number), followed by (second highest) at (number). In contrast, (lowest category) had the lowest value, accounting for (number). Meanwhile, (other categories) stood at (numbers) respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response3.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response identifies a few relevant overall features, including range of shops as a leading positive and traffic congestion as a major negative, and notes that the problem figures were relatively stable. However, it does not adequately describe the charts: the body paragraph is largely an uncompleted template, with placeholders such as “(highest category)” and “(number)” rather than reported data. The overview is also too general to summarise the main patterns across all three visuals, and the line graph’s downward trend is mentioned without identifying which measures decline. The response contains 94 words, below the required 150; this leaves too little space to address the task. Include accurate comparisons and selected figures for each visual, and complete the report.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the report: an opening, an overview beginning “Overall,” and a body paragraph introduced by “To begin with.” This gives the reader some indication of the intended structure. However, the response does not progress into a complete account, and the body remains a template rather than developing the information. Linking is also sometimes mechanical or unclear: “In addition,” “furthermore,” and “whereas” are crowded into the overview without clearly connecting specific comparisons. The paragraph break helps distinguish overview from detail, but the report needs separate, purposeful paragraphs for the different visuals and a logical sequence of comparisons. Use linking phrases only where they clarify how the data relate.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses some task-appropriate vocabulary, including “accounted for,” “largest proportion,” “relatively stable,” and “downward trend.” These phrases show an attempt to describe survey results rather than relying only on everyday language. However, the range is limited by the short response and the unfinished template, and several choices or forms are inaccurate: “best thing” should be plural in this context, “worst hings” appears to be a spelling error, and “share” is less precise than “percentage” for these figures. Capitalisation of “London” is also inconsistent. Build a wider set of accurate terms for comparing percentages, such as “rose,” “fell,” “remained unchanged,” and “was higher than,” and check spelling and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There is an attempt to use more than simple sentences, for example the overview contrasts positive and negative features with “whereas,” and the final sentence refers to a trend. However, control is uneven. The opening overview contains run-on punctuation and missing spaces after full stops (“periods.while” and “stable.furthermore”), while “an downward trend” has an incorrect article. The sentence beginning “To begin with” is grammatically framed but cannot demonstrate accurate reporting because its key elements are left as placeholders. Most of the response relies on a small number of sentence patterns, so the range is limited. Use complete sentences with clear punctuation, check articles and agreement, and practise combining accurate comparisons with subordinate clauses.

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