Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The pie charts below show responses by teachers of foreign languages in Britain to a survey concerning why their students are learning a foreign language. The first chart shows the main reason for learning a foreign language. The second chart shows how many teachers felt that there has been a recent change in the reason.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below.

% of teachers reporting the following as most common reason for learning:

Student answer (Band 5.0)

The first pie chart illustrates the significant reason why people learn a foreign language, while the second pie chart reports the reason for an increase in the study of foreign language.

Overall, the most significant reason why people learn a foreign language is for the purpose of travel, while foreign partner accounted for the least reason. Additionally, learning a foreign language for the purpose of buying property overseas had the highest percentage, in contrast to travel.

Focusing on traveling and working, people studied a foreign language for this purposes at 33% and 26% respectively accounting for the highest reason, but declined significantly to 3% and 19% when there was an increase in learning.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the ability to fully develop the response. While the report attempts to describe the data, it is incomplete. The overview is present but lacks sufficient detail, and the analysis of the data is fragmented. Several key categories from the charts are omitted, and the comparison between the two charts is underdeveloped. To improve, you must ensure all parts of the prompt are addressed and provide a more comprehensive analysis of the data trends to meet the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is organized into short paragraphs, but the logical progression is weak. While there is an attempt to use cohesive devices like 'Additionally' and 'in contrast to', the flow between sentences is disjointed. The referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly when discussing the shift in reasons. The paragraphing is present but does not effectively group the information to guide the reader through the data. Improving the use of linking words and ensuring that each paragraph has a clear focus would help improve the overall coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is somewhat repetitive and limited. Phrases such as 'significant reason' and 'purpose of' are used multiple times, which reduces the sophistication of the report. There are also some inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'foreign partner accounted for the least reason', which is not idiomatic. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use a wider range of vocabulary to describe trends, such as 'predominant', 'marginal', or 'fluctuation', and ensure that your collocations are natural and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. For example, 'people studied a foreign language for this purposes' contains a pluralization error, and 'declined significantly to 3% and 19% when there was an increase in learning' is confusingly phrased. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the overall control of grammar is inconsistent. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and ensure that your complex sentences are constructed accurately to avoid ambiguity.

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

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