Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-26

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 5.5)

The Figures below are showing the two different graphs that are showing the criteria about living in London. The first graph is showing the best things about living in London and the other graph is showing the bad things about living in London in three years. Moreover there is a Line graph that has data about the major problems in London that line graph is showing three problems.

Firstly, I am discussing the first bar chart in this it is showing many of the facilities which you have when you are living London. The ranges of shops has the highest percentage it is above forty percent in three years. Transport has minimum percentage in three years above twenty percent

Secondly, there are many worst things about living in London the main thing is the cost. It is very expensive to live easily it costs very high. At first the cost of living, cost of transport and the cost of housing the middle class family can not easily afford to liver easily in that environment the expense of living is above fifty percent in three years.

At the end there is a line graph about the major problem that we face about living in London the air quality and the noise decreased gradually in three years and the litter highly increased from year one to year two and than it will decreased

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the three visuals and report some relevant features, including the range of shops as the leading positive feature and the decline in air-quality and noise concerns. However, the response addresses the data only partially: it gives few precise comparisons and omits several prominent trends, such as the mixture of people and job opportunities, and the high litter figures. Some claims are inaccurate or unclear. Transport is not consistently the lowest positive feature, and the cost of living is not above 50% in all three years. The discussion of the worst aspects also shifts into unsupported commentary about middle-class families rather than describing the chart. A clearer overview and accurate comparisons across all three visuals would make the report more complete and better grounded in the data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable overall sequence: an introduction, discussion of the positive features, the negative features, and finally the line graph. Paragraphing and signposts such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “At the end” help the reader follow this basic structure. However, the progression within sections is sometimes unclear, and the opening repeats “graphs” and “showing” without efficiently summarising the visuals. Connections between ideas can also be mechanical; for example, “Moreover” introduces another chart rather than developing the preceding point. The second paragraph combines several costs without clearly comparing their figures, while the final sentence moves between trends without precise links. Organise each paragraph around a clear comparison and use referencing and transitions more naturally.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic vocabulary to identify the main categories, including “range of shops,” “job opportunities,” “air quality,” and “litter.” Some variation, such as “best things” and “worst things,” also keeps the report connected to the chart. However, the range is limited and several expressions are imprecise or unnatural, which sometimes makes the intended meaning difficult to follow. For example, “the criteria about living in London” does not accurately describe the survey categories, and “the cost of transport” is not the chart’s label. Phrases such as “it costs very high” and “litter highly increased” show weak collocation. Use precise chart vocabulary and standard reporting phrases, such as “accounted for,” “was the highest,” and “rose before falling.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, and the reader can generally identify the main points. However, the range of sentence structures is limited, and attempts to combine ideas often contain errors that make the report less clear. For instance, “The Figures below are showing the two different graphs that are showing” has awkward tense and repeated clause structure; “Transport has minimum percentage” is missing an article; and “the litter highly increased … and than it will decreased” has problems with verb form and tense consistency. There are also errors in agreement and sentence boundaries, particularly in the long sentence about costs. Practise concise present-tense descriptions of chart data, and check articles, verb forms, and punctuation when joining clauses.

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.