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 two pie charts demonstrate a survey by teachers about the reasons and recent increase in students for studying foreign languages in Britain. Overall, highest proportion of students learning for travel, while most significant rise recently is for buying property overseas.
Regarding the most common reasons for studying other languages, travelling experienced one third at 33%, while business and work occupies almost one quarter at 26%, The third proportion is buying property at about one fifth at 19%. The personal development and social contacts are the same at 7%. Furthermore, the lowest proportion are general interest and foreign partners at 5% and 3% respectively.
Looking into the recent increase, buying property experiences about one third at 34%, the second most popular reason is business or work at 19%. The social contacts and no change at same ratio at 15%. The general interest and personal development are at 4%. The least is 3% at t
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of both pie charts, identifying key data points such as the highest proportion of students learning for travel (33%) and the notable trend regarding buying property overseas. The candidate attempts an overview in the introduction and selects data to support their points. However, the report suffers from omissions and abrupt endings, notably trailing off at the very end of the text ('The least is 3% at t'). While the core data is presented, some comparisons are missing or underdeveloped, placing the response firmly at Band 5.5 for Task Achievement.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The report exhibits some basic organization with an introduction and body paragraphs addressing the different charts. However, overall progression is limited, and cohesive devices are sometimes faulty or repetitive (e.g., repetitive sentence structures starting with percentages and categories). Paragraphing is attempted, but the abrupt cut-off at the end significantly disrupts the logical flow and cohesion of the final section. Referencing and linking could be much smoother. This corresponds to a Band 5.0 for Coherence and Cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for describing statistical data, such as 'proportion', 'experience', and 'popular reason'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'travelling experienced one third' and 'social contacts and no change at same ratio'. Additionally, there are issues with phrasing like 'recent increase in students for studying'. While communication is generally maintained, the frequent lexical awkwardness keeps the score at Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The candidate attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control is inconsistent. There are several grammatical errors and missing words throughout the text, such as 'Overall, highest proportion of students learning for travel' (missing 'the' and 'are') and 'Business and work occupies almost one quarter at 26%, The third proportion...' (comma splice and awkward phrasing). The incomplete final sentence also demonstrates poor control over grammatical completion. These frequent errors cause occasional difficulty, reflecting Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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