Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-13

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)

The given pie charts elucidate the information about the reports from the survey conducted by the foreign language teachers in Britain regarding why scholars are learning such languages. Moreover, the first chart shows the most common reasons for studying, namely: travel, foreign partners, social contacts, general interest, buying property overseas, and personal development. The second pie chart illustrates the report the number of teachers feeling that there was recent increase in these reasons.

Overall, students who wanted to travel and for business or work made up over a third, while those who needed a foreign partner were the least who decreased according to teachers' reports in the second pie chart, while those who wanted to buy property increased.

To commence with, students who were learning foreign languages as needing to travel and work or do business had the highest number of 33% and 26%, respectively, who tend to decrease sharply to 3% and 19%. Moreover, buying property overseas, foreign partners, and social contacts increased considerably from 19% to 34%, 3% to 4%, and from 7% to 15%, respectively.

Similarly, 15% of the reasons for learning overseas languages did not change, while personal development fell sharply from 7% to 4%. Additionally, general interest increased by 1%

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting key data from both pie charts, such as the initial percentages and the reported changes. The student identifies the main reasons like travel and business, and notes trends such as the increase in buying property overseas. However, the data handling in the third paragraph is somewhat confusing and mathematically imprecise regarding how the initial percentages relate to the changes. For instance, stating that travel decreased 'sharply to 3%' misinterprets the second chart, which actually shows the percentage of teachers who felt there had been a change. While the main features are presented, the interpretation of the second chart's specific mechanics contains inaccuracies, leading to a Band 6.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The report has a logical overall progression, starting with an introductory overview and moving into body paragraphs that detail the survey findings. Paragraphing is used to separate the introduction, overall summary, and specific details. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as 'Overall', 'To commence with', and 'Similarly'. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally become mechanical or slightly confusing, particularly when transitioning between the first and second charts in the middle paragraphs. For example, sentences like 'while those who needed a foreign partner were the least who decreased' are awkward and hinder smooth flow, justifying a score of 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'elucidate', 'considerably', and 'personal development'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. Phrases like 'scholars are learning' (instead of students or learners) and 'report the number of teachers feeling' sound unnatural. Furthermore, expressions such as 'the least who decreased' reflect limited precision in handling complex lexical patterns. Spelling is generally accurate, but the overall lexical control sits comfortably at Band 6.0 due to recurring awkward collocations and imprecise vocabulary deployment.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and introductory prepositional phrases (e.g., 'To commence with, students who were learning...'). However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several structural errors and awkward phrasings that disrupt readability, such as 'made up over a third, while those who needed a foreign partner were the least who decreased', and 'students who were learning foreign languages as needing to travel'. Punctuation is mostly acceptable, but missing terminal punctuation at the very end of the text ('Additionally, general interest increased by 1%') highlights a lack of final proofreading. These issues place the grammar at a Band 6.0 level.

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