Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-27

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 provided bar chart displays what are the best things: range of shops, job opportunities, mixture of people, museums & art galleries, night life, and transport, while the worst things such as cost of living, traffic cognition, crime, cost of housing, and transport in London over the three years, including the percentage of the problems facing by people while living in this city.

Overall, the evidence states that people were facing environmental problems more than other things such as the best and the worst things, during the three-years periods.

In year 1, the best things that people were enjoying were the range of shops with 45%, job opportunities just below 40%, mixture of people 35% and the other best things had remained below 30%. While, the worst things during the same year were cost of living above 55%, traffic cognetion and crime had almost same proportion which was 55%, and the others were below 40%. In year 2, the best thing was range of shops with 42% and all other things were less than 40%. On the other hand, the worst thing was traffic congnestion with 55%, and all other things were less than 50%. In year 3, range of shops were the best things with 42%, and the rest were less than 40%. While, the worst thing was cost of living with 50%, and the rest were less than 50%.

The line graph illustrates that litter was the major problem faced by people as compared to the others. In year 1, 70% claimed that litter was the major problem and then latter, in year 2, it surged to 75%, after that it fell at about below 70%. Air quality remained steady in three-years but it declined

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify several key features, including shops as the leading positive feature and litter as the most prominent problem, and you compare the three years for the best and worst categories. However, the report only partially covers the visual: the final discussion of the line graph stops after air quality, omitting its figures and the noise trend. The overview is also unclear when it says environmental problems were more significant than the best and worst things; the chart shows percentages for different survey questions, not a direct comparison of their importance. Some details are inaccurate or too broad: in Year 3, crime is 40%, not below 40%, and several positive categories are not all below 30% in Year 1. Include a complete overview and select accurate comparisons across all three charts.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an opening, an overview, and paragraphs describing the bar charts and line graph. The repeated sequence of “In year 1,” “In year 2,” and “In year 3” helps readers follow the time periods. However, progression is weakened by the long opening sentence, which combines several chart topics without clearly distinguishing them, and by repeated “While” and “and the rest” constructions. The final paragraph ends abruptly after “but it declined,” leaving the line-graph account incomplete and disrupting the report’s overall flow. Use separate, clearly focused paragraphs for the positive and negative features and the problem trends, and connect comparisons rather than listing each year in the same pattern.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary such as “job opportunities,” “cost of living,” “air quality,” and “major problem,” so the reader can generally understand the subject. There is some attempt at variation, including “surged” and “proportion.” However, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “traffic cognition” and “traffic cognetion” appear to mean traffic congestion, while “facing by people” and “the best thing was range of shops” are awkward or unclear. “Latter” is also not the right word for describing a later year. Aim for accurate, natural collocations and check spelling carefully; precise terms such as “percentage of respondents” and “was considered the main drawback” would make the report more appropriate to an academic chart description.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses beginning with “while” and “as compared to,” but complex constructions are often faulty and errors occur frequently enough to affect clarity. For example, “the percentage of the problems facing by people” has an incorrect passive structure, and “range of shops were the best things” has a subject–verb agreement problem. The sentence “Air quality remained steady in three-years but it declined” is incomplete in meaning and uses an unclear time expression. There are also sentence fragments beginning “While” and inconsistent article and plural use. Practise complete sentence structures, agreement, and accurate verb forms; then proofread each sentence to ensure its comparison and time reference are complete.

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