Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-08-28

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 5.5)

These two pie charts represents the results of survey depicting the responses by teachers of foreign languages in Britain reporting about percentages of teachers believing the most common reasons for learning and recent changes in that reasons respectively.

The first pie chart shows the percentages of teachers reporting 7 most common reasons for learning foreign languages by students that are 33% of travelling, 26% of business, 19% of buying property overseas, 5% of general interest, 7% of social contacts, 7% of personal development and 3% foreign partners.

The second pie chart reports the percentages of teachers believing there is recent increase in learners due following reasons such as 3% in travelling, 19% in business or work, 34% in buying property overseas, 6% in general interest, 15% in social contacts, 4% in personal development and 4% in foreign partners, but there are15% of teachers who believe there is no change.

However, the survey results are supported by pie charts that reports the famous reasons and recent preferences of learners towards foreign languages in Britain.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all parts of the task by describing both pie charts. However, the report is essentially a list of data points rather than a cohesive analysis. While you have included all the figures, you have not highlighted the key features or made meaningful comparisons between the two charts. For example, noting that 'buying property overseas' jumped from 19% to 34% would have provided a much stronger analytical overview. The summary at the end is also quite repetitive and does not synthesize the information effectively. To improve, focus on grouping data and identifying significant trends rather than simply transcribing every percentage provided in the charts.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into paragraphs, but the progression of ideas is mechanical. You rely heavily on listing data rather than using cohesive devices to link the information logically. While you use some transition words like 'However' and 'The first pie chart', the connection between sentences is often weak. The final paragraph is somewhat redundant and does not add value to the report. To improve, ensure that each paragraph has a clear focus and use a wider variety of linking words to show relationships between the data points, such as 'in contrast', 'conversely', or 'a significant shift occurred'.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks variety and precision. You repeat phrases like 'percentages of teachers' and 'reasons for learning' multiple times. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'depicting the responses by teachers' and 'recent preferences of learners towards foreign languages'. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use more sophisticated synonyms and collocations. For instance, instead of repeating 'reasons', you could use 'motivations', 'drivers', or 'incentives'. Additionally, ensure that your phrasing sounds more natural in an academic context.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. For example, 'These two pie charts represents' (subject-verb agreement), 'reasons for learning foreign languages by students that are 33% of travelling' (awkward phrasing), and 'there are15% of teachers' (spacing error). Additionally, the use of prepositions is occasionally inaccurate, such as 'increase in learners due following reasons'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to affect the overall flow and clarity of the report. Focus on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and article usage.

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

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