Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-09-28

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)

The pie charts illustrate the responces by teachers of foreign languages in britain that why their children are learning foreign language.

Overall, in first chart, travel accounted for the largest share, followed by business and work. However, the proportion of foriegn partner remained the smallest. In second chart, a dramatic increase was seen in the proportion of the people learning foreign languages for buying property overseas, while the proportion of travel become smallest.

In first chart, travel was of the highest proportion about 33%, followed by work at 26%. The third largest share was of buying property overseas abot 19%. Personal development and social contacts were 7%, while, the proportion of foreign partner remained the smallest at 3%

Consequently, in the sencond chart, buying property overseas become the bigest reason of learning foreign language about 34%. However, work become the second at 19%. Social contacts and no change showed the proportion of 15%. Travel contributed the smallest share of 3%

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting on both pie charts provided. The student correctly identifies the main categories, such as travel and work in the first chart, and buying property overseas in the second chart. An overview is present at the beginning of the second paragraph, though it could be more fully developed to compare the two charts more explicitly. Key features are accurately highlighted, such as travel leading the first chart at 33% and property acquisition dominating the second chart at 34%. Figures are mostly cited correctly from the visual data. The response meets the minimum word count requirement of 150 words cleanly and presents a relevant selection of data without straying off-topic. Minor areas for improvement include expanding slightly on the comparative dynamics between the two charts.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The report demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement with a clear division into paragraphs. Information is logically sequenced, beginning with an introductory overview and following with specific data details for each chart. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader through the data, such as 'Overall', 'However', and 'Consequently'. However, some referencing is slightly mechanical or repetitive, and paragraphing could be structured more effectively to separate the two distinct charts clearly. While progression is generally clear, transitional phrases between sentences occasionally feel abrupt, placing this essay comfortably at Band 6.0 in terms of organisational flow and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying numerical data and trends using terms such as 'proportion', 'largest share', 'dramatic increase', and 'contributed'. However, there are noticeable spelling errors throughout the text, including 'responces' instead of responses, 'britain' with a lowercase b, 'foriegn' instead of foreign, 'abot' instead of about, 'sencond' instead of second, and 'bigest' instead of biggest. These spelling and word-choice inaccuracies demonstrate a limited control of less common lexical items, restricting the score to Band 5.5. To achieve a higher band, the student must eliminate basic spelling errors and incorporate more precise academic vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and introductory prepositional phrases. However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several structural and punctuation errors, such as missing articles ('in first chart' instead of 'in the first chart'), incorrect preposition usage ('reason of learning' instead of 'reason for learning'), and verb tense inconsistencies ('become' instead of 'became'). Despite these frequent errors, communication is rarely impeded, and the reader can easily follow the intended meaning. This performance aligns well with the descriptors for Band 5.0, reflecting a limited range of structures with persistent grammatical inaccuracies.

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