Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-03

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 charts illustrate the reasons for learning the foreign language as well as the percentage of teachers who thought that reasons has been changed recently.

Overall, previously it was indicated that majory of people learn foreign language due to travelling purpose but later on thid change has been shifted towards the buying of property overseas.

26% people were those who intended to learn other languages due to their business or work, where as this percentage reduced to 19% after a recent change. In the past 19% people were learning the language due to buying or selling their properties overseas and after a significant change now it rises to 34% people

Only 7 % people learned other languages due to social purposes, whereas now more people almost 15% believed this. 5 to 6 percentage of those who thought to become proficient in the languages of other countries due to their personal reasons or interests. During the old times 3% people acquired foreing language due to their foreign partner and after the change this percentage increased by 1% only. Similary 7% people were trying to understand foreign language due to their personal development ang grooming but noe it has been decreased to 4%. Overall,15 percent people were those that do not change their reason.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting on both charts, presenting an overview, and selecting key data points to compare. For instance, the student correctly identifies that travel and buying property overseas are significant categories. However, some ideas are under-developed or less fully explained, and there are misinterpretations of the data, such as confusing the initial survey data with the second chart tracking perceived recent changes. The overview is also somewhat simplistic and misreads the temporal relationship between the two distinct charts. To move to a higher band, the response would need to select and accurately contrast the data without misinterpreting what each chart specifically measures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a coherent overall arrangement to the report, with paragraphs used to separate different data points and sections. However, the logical progression is sometimes hindered by mechanical or faulty cohesive devices, such as 'where as', 'after a significant change now it rises', and 'Similary'. Referencing within and between sentences is not always completely clear, leading to a choppy flow where ideas feel disjointed rather than seamlessly connected. To achieve a higher level of cohesion, the response needs to employ more flexible and accurate linking words to show clear relationships between ideas and data trends.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying basic concepts related to statistics and language learning, such as 'percentage', 'increase', and 'decrease'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, including 'majory', 'travelling purpose', 'foreing language', and 'grooming'. The student attempts less common vocabulary, but these attempts often result in inaccuracies in spelling or word choice, such as writing 'thid change' or 'ang grooming'. To reach a higher band, the vocabulary must demonstrate greater precision, correct spelling, and more natural collocations suitable for an academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, attempting structures like 'whereas this percentage reduced to 19% after a recent change.' However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, such as missing articles ('learn foreign language'), incorrect verb tenses ('reasons has been changed', 'now it rises'), and faulty prepositions ('due to buying or selling'). While these errors rarely impede overall communication, they persist throughout the text. To attain a higher band, the writing would need to showcase better control over complex grammatical structures with fewer persistent errors in basic rules like subject-verb agreement and article usage.

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

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