Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-02

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 below consists of responses by teachers of foreign languages in Britain to a survey about why their students are learning a foreign language.

Overall the first chart comprises the main cause of learning a foreign language as comapred to the second chart showing how many teachers felt there has been a recent change in the reason.

In the first chart the highest percentage of teachers approximately 33% reported travel as the most common reason for learning whereas the lowest percentage approximately 3% teachers reported foreign partner as the most common cause.

The second chart illustrates recent increase in people learning for different reasons. The highest percentage of teachers approximately 34% reported buying property overseas as the most common reason for learning whereas the lowest percentage approximately 3% reported travel. Other reasons included personal development, social contacts and general interest with different percentages of teacher reporting the most common causes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task only partially. While the student attempts to report on both charts, the overview is weak, merely restating the prompt rather than summarising the main trends or significant differences. Furthermore, some data points are inaccurate or poorly communicated. For instance, the text claims that for the second chart 'the lowest percentage approximately 3% reported travel', which overlooks other categories such as personal development (4%) or foreign partner (4%), and fails to present a fully coherent picture of the broader data. To move up, the writer needs to provide a clear, distinct overview paragraph that highlights key trends and select data more accurately to support the main features of the visual information.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation in the response, but it lacks clear overall progression and logical flow between sentences. The writer uses basic grouping, dividing the text into an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for each chart. However, cohesive devices are minimal, repetitive, or mechanical, relying heavily on simple phrases like 'In the first chart' and 'The second chart' without adequate referencing or linking words to guide the reader smoothly. Paragraphing is also erratic, with the introduction and overview awkwardly split. To improve, the student should ensure that cohesive devices are used more flexibly and that ideas are linked logically to create a seamless progression throughout the report.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The student relies heavily on repetitive language, frequently repeating phrases such as 'most common reason for learning' and 'highest percentage of teachers approximately'. There are also instances of awkward word choice and spelling errors, such as 'comapred' instead of 'compared'. While the writer attempts some less common vocabulary related to the charts, inaccuracies in word form and collocation occasionally surface. To achieve a higher band, the student must incorporate a wider and more varied range of vocabulary, demonstrating greater flexibility and precision when describing statistical data without resorting to monotonous repetition.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a limited range of grammatical structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with occasional, often faulty, attempts at complex forms. Frequent errors are present, particularly regarding punctuation (such as missing commas after introductory prepositional phrases) and article usage. For instance, the opening sentence 'The pie charts below consists of...' contains a subject-verb agreement error. Sentences often run together or lack necessary punctuation, which can cause some difficulty for the reader. To progress, the writer needs to demonstrate a greater variety of complex sentence structures with improved accuracy, paying closer attention to punctuation, verb forms, and subject-verb agreement.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.