Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-11-04

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 line and graph presents the survey conducted on the citizens of London for a period of three years to comments on the life in London.

Overall the people is happy from the range of shops available in London while the percentage of night life and transport is minimum. The job opportunities, mixture of people and museums share the same percentage with little fluctuation.

Overall cost of living, traffic congestion and crime were highest among other problems with crime rates decrease in third year of survey.

The 1st bar chart shows that range of shops are more than 40 percent while job opportunities and mixture of people are greater than 30 percent and less than 40 according the survey. The vote for the museum and art gallery increased in the 3rd year but still did not cross 40 percent.

The percentage of night life and transport are same with little fluctuation and less than 30 percent.

In the 1st year of survey cost of living, traffic congestion and crime have the highest percentage more than 50 percent while the problem with transport is noticed less than 30 percent in the 2nd and 3rd year of the survey. Litter is considered the big problem among all shows more then 69 percent.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify several important features, including the popularity of shops, the lower figures for nightlife and transport, and litter as a major concern. You also note that museums and galleries rose by Year 3. However, some comparisons are inaccurate or too broad: job opportunities, the mixture of people and museums do not share the same percentage, and nightlife and transport are not consistently the same. Your overview also says crime was among the highest problems overall, although its figure fell sharply after Year 1 and traffic congestion remained higher in later years. To make the report more complete, describe the line graph’s trends for litter, air quality and noise, and support the overview with clearer comparisons across all three visuals.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, overview statements and paragraphs describing the charts. This helps the reader follow the broad topic. However, progression is uneven because the overview is split across two paragraphs and some details appear without a clear link to the main comparisons. For example, the final sentence introduces litter but does not compare its trend with air quality or noise. Linking phrases such as “By contrast” or “Meanwhile” could clarify relationships between the charts, while grouping related information into a single paragraph would improve flow. Avoid repeating “Overall” and make references such as “the percentage” more specific so readers know which category or year is being discussed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing survey results, including “percentage,” “increased,” “fluctuation” and “highest,” and the meaning is generally understandable. However, several word choices and collocations are imprecise, such as “happy from the range of shops,” “the vote for the museum,” and “Litter is considered the big problem among all shows.” These expressions make some comparisons less clear and reduce the precision expected in a data report. Use neutral reporting language and choose terms that accurately describe respondents’ views and chart categories. There is also repetition of “percentage” and “survey”; varying these with “proportion,” “figure” or “respondents” would make the vocabulary more flexible without sacrificing clarity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, and most of the intended meaning can be understood. However, errors in agreement, verb forms and sentence construction occur across the response. For instance, “The line and graph presents” has a subject–verb agreement problem, while “the people is happy” and “range of shops are” also show agreement errors. The opening phrase “to comments on” uses an incorrect verb form, and “crime rates decrease in third year” does not maintain an appropriate tense or article use. Work on matching verbs to singular and plural subjects, and use past tense consistently when reporting the three-year survey. More accurate sentence patterns will make your comparisons easier to follow.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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