Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-07

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:

% of teachers reporting the following as most common reason for learning:

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The pie charts illustrate the results of a survey where teachers responded to the concerns about their students for learning a foreign language. The first chart the reason behind learning a foreign language, while the second chart illustatrates the figures of teachers who thinks that the reason of this concern has probably changed.

Overall, regarding reason for learning a foreign language, travel was found to be the most common reason, whereas marrying a foreign person was found to be the lowest reason. With respect to the changing reason, buying a property overseas has found to be the leading cause of this learning, while travel has become the least common reason for people to learn a foreign language.

Talking about the most common reason, travel accounted for the highest figure, at 33%, making it by far the most common reason for learning another language. It is followed by buisness or work purposes which found to be the second leading cause of this practice to about 26%. In contrast, a foreign partner took the lowest figure share, at just 3%. However, other reasons including personal development, social contacts and buying properties were remined difern

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main pattern in the first chart accurately: travel is highest at 33%, business/work follows at 26%, and a foreign partner is lowest at 3%. You also correctly highlight buying property overseas as the largest reported recent increase. However, the second chart is misinterpreted: it reports teachers’ views on which reasons have recently increased, not the current ranking of reasons for learning. Saying travel is the “least common reason” in that chart confuses the 3% increase figure with overall prevalence. The report also ends before describing several figures, including the 34% for property, 19% for work, and 15% for social contacts and no change. A fuller, more accurate comparison of both charts is needed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph beginning to detail the first chart. This gives the reader a basic route through the information, and linking phrases such as “Overall,” “In contrast,” and “It is followed by” help connect points. However, the progression is incomplete: the final paragraph stops mid-thought (“were remined difern”) and there is no developed account of the second chart. Some connections are also unclear, particularly the overview’s claim that travel “has become the least common reason,” which does not clearly distinguish an increase from overall popularity. Organise the details into complete paragraphs, one for each chart, and use comparisons that explicitly identify what each percentage measures.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing charts, including “accounted for,” “highest figure,” “leading cause,” and “in contrast.” These choices show an attempt to vary language rather than repeat “reason” throughout. However, several word choices are inaccurate or awkward for this task: “concerns” does not mean reasons, “marrying a foreign person” changes the chart label “foreign partner,” and “the reason of this concern” is unclear. There are also noticeable spelling errors, such as “illustatrates,” “buisness,” “remined,” and “difern,” which reduce precision. Aim for standard chart-reporting collocations and preserve the categories’ meanings; for example, refer to “learning purposes” and “teachers reporting a recent increase.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast clause beginning “while” and a participial phrase in “making it by far the most common reason.” The main comparisons are generally understandable. However, some grammatical errors make relationships less clear. The opening sentence has an awkward construction (“teachers responded to the concerns about their students for learning”), and “The first chart the reason…” is missing a verb. There are also agreement and verb-form problems in “teachers who thinks” and “which found to be,” as well as an incomplete final sentence. Use complete clauses, check subject–verb agreement, and ensure each chart description has a clear main verb. More accurate control of these structures would make the report easier to follow.

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