Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-09

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 first pie chart illustrates the common reason why scholars are learning foreign language and second pie chart gives the percenatage of educators felt that there has been latest change in the reason in Britain.

Overall, Before recent transformation travel was the highest while, foreign partner had the lowest percentage. However, in the latest survey teachers reported that buying property overseas has increased significantly. Surprisingly, travel has decreased drastically.

Looking at the first chart, three most common reason were travel (33%), business or work (26%) and buying property overseas (19%). Meanwhile, remaining four were the least cause of students naming; foreign partner at 3%, personal development and social contacts were same with only 7% and lastly, general with 5%.

Now at the recent survey, buying property has experienced dramatically increase in numbers reaching at 34% as well as social contact had sudden jump at 15%, whereas, business work decreased slightly (19%). Leftover motive has slighlty changes, foreign partner at 4%, personal development decreased to 4%, general interest with 6%. Unexpectedly, travel had drastical downfall at 3%. New reason has added no change at 15%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main pattern in both charts: travel is the leading reason in the first chart, while buying property overseas is the largest reported increase in the second. You also include many accurate figures, such as 33%, 26%, 19% and the later 34% for property. This addresses the task, but some comparisons are unclear or overstate what the second chart shows. It reports teachers’ views of recent increases, not a direct before-and-after survey, so “travel has decreased drastically” and “social contact had sudden jump” imply measured changes that the data do not establish. Clarify that 3% of teachers reported an increase for travel, and include the 15% reporting no change as a category rather than calling it a new reason.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs describing each chart. This helps the reader follow the broad comparison. However, progression within the detail paragraphs is sometimes mechanical, with repeated transitions such as “Meanwhile,” “Now,” “Leftover,” and “Unexpectedly.” Some links also create confusing relationships: “as well as social contact had sudden jump” does not clearly connect the two figures, and “New reason has added no change” misrepresents the category. Improve cohesion by grouping the largest figures first, then the smaller ones, and use precise references such as “the proportion of teachers reporting an increase” rather than vague phrases like “leftover motive.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic vocabulary, including “common reason,” “business or work,” “personal development,” and “increased significantly.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, which makes some comparisons harder to interpret. For example, “latest transformation” suggests a change in the survey itself, while “drastical downfall” and “sudden jump” overstate the evidence. There are also spelling errors such as “percenatage” and “slighlty.” Aim for neutral, precise chart language and check spelling carefully. Prefer terms such as “reported increase,” “accounted for,” and “proportion” over dramatic descriptions of change.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentences, including contrast clauses with “while” and “whereas,” and most of the intended meaning can be understood. However, errors in sentence structure, agreement, articles, and punctuation recur. For example, “three most common reason were” needs plural agreement, and “buying property has experienced dramatically increase” has an incorrect article and adverb form. The sentence beginning “Meanwhile, remaining four were…” is also incomplete in its construction, while capitalising “Before” after a comma is incorrect. Practise building accurate comparison sentences, for example: “Travel was the most commonly reported reason, at 33%, whereas only 3% cited a foreign partner.”

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