Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-26

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 pie charts illustrates the main reasons why students in Britain are learning a foreign langauage and the proportion of teachers who believe that these reasons have changed recently.

Overall, the significant reason to learn a foreign language is travelling while the lowest proportion is the foreign partner. The circumstances are been changed now, the highest number of people who learns a foreign language is to but a property over there and the lowest reason is to travel.

The main reason to learn a foreign language is travel which contributes a 33% which is the highest value. Moreover, 26% of people adopt a second language for their business and work while 19% of individuals to purchase a property in another country. Consequently, the number of people learning a foreign language for personal development and social contacts are both 7%. Only 5% are the people who learn it for their own interest and 3% are the people to build relationships with foreign partner.

However, the interests and preferences are now increased with differents aspects. The highest number of people buying property overseas are 34% while 19% people who learns a foreign language for business. 15% of people are learning another language because of social contacts and exactlt the same 15% of people with no change. Additionally, less than 10% of people are learning a foreign language for various puposes like general interest, personal development and to make a foreign partner.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by describing the main features of both pie charts, noting key proportions such as travel at 33% for the main reason and buying property overseas at 34% for the recent increase. An overview is attempted in the second paragraph, though it contains some inaccuracies regarding the data (e.g., stating the lowest reason for the first chart is a foreign partner, which is accurate at 3%, but misinterpreting the second chart's trends). The selection of data is generally appropriate, but the interpretation of the second chart as a complete shift where travel became the lowest reason is confused, as 3% of teachers reported an increase in travel. Overall, the response meets the core requirements of Task 1, but the flawed overview and misinterpretation of the second chart keep it at a Band 5.5 level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The report is divided into four paragraphs, including an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs detailing the charts. There is a basic logical progression from the overview to specific data points. However, cohesive devices are sometimes faulty, mechanical, or awkwardly used, such as 'The circumstances are been changed now' and 'Consequently, the number of people...'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and the transition words do not always signal logical relationships smoothly. Paragraphing is present and helps structure the response, but internal cohesion requires better control and a wider variety of linking words. This performance aligns well with the Band 6 descriptor.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, including terms like 'proportion', 'contributes', 'preference', and 'purposes'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices throughout the text, such as 'langauage' (spelling), 'significant reason' instead of 'primary reason', 'to but a property' instead of 'to buy', and 'exactlt' (spelling). Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success, and some expressions feel unnatural or repetitive. While meaning is generally conveyed, the frequency of word-choice and spelling errors prevents the score from reaching Band 6.0, placing it firmly at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

A mix of simple and complex sentence forms is attempted, such as 'The pie charts illustrates...' and 'while 19% of individuals to purchase a property...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('charts illustrates', 'people who learns'), incorrect verb forms ('are been changed', 'people who learns'), and missing verbs ('while 19% of individuals to purchase'). Punctuation and sentence structures are sometimes strained, causing occasional difficulty for the reader. These persistent errors across various structures restrict the grammar score to Band 5.0.

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