Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-11

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 illustrates responses by teachers of foreign languages in United Kingdom to a survey concerning why their students are learning a second language. The first chart gives information about the main reason for learning a foreign language. The second chart demonstrates how many teachers felt that there has been a recent change in the reason.

Overall, travelling is the most common reason for learning foreign language, business/work and buying properties overseas also contributed almost half of all the categories. Comunicating with foreign partner added the lowest. A change have also been noticed in recent years in learning second language. The reason for buying have been raised accounting the most in recent years, while the travel remained the lowest contributer.

Most of the teachers, argues that 33% of people learn international language for travelling purpose.The business/work adds upto 26% followed by 19% for buying properties overseas, while personal development accounted 7% as well as social contacts.

Teachers also noticed change in the reasons for learning foreign language, 34% now learn for purchasing properties, 19% for business/work and 15% for social contacts and 15% noticed no change. Frthermore, 6% for general interest and 4% for personal development and foreign partner and 3% travel.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover both charts and identify the main patterns: travel is the leading reason in the first chart, while buying property overseas is the most frequently reported recent increase. Most figures are accurate, including 33% for travel, 26% for work and 34% for property purchases. However, the overview is not fully precise: “business/work and buying properties overseas also contributed almost half” is unclear, and the second chart records teachers’ views of recent increases, not the current reasons people learn. The claim that travel “remained the lowest contributor” also needs clearer framing: it is the smallest reported increase, at 3%. Include the first chart’s smaller categories, such as general interest and foreign partners, more clearly to make the comparison more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and separate paragraphs for the two charts. This helps the reader follow the broad organisation. However, progression within sentences is sometimes awkward or unclear. For example, “business/work and buying properties overseas also contributed almost half of all the categories” does not clearly explain what is being compared, and the transition into “A change have also been noticed” is abrupt. The final paragraph lists several percentages in a long sequence, with limited punctuation or grouping. Organise each chart’s details from largest to smallest and use clear links such as “by contrast” or “the remaining responses” to make relationships between figures easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “foreign language,” “business/work,” “personal development” and “social contacts,” and you attempt alternatives such as “travelling” and “purchasing properties.” However, the range is limited and some choices or collocations are inaccurate, which makes parts of the report less clear. “Contributed almost half of all the categories” does not express the intended comparison naturally, while “the lowest contributer” is an imprecise way to describe a percentage. There are also spelling errors, including “Comunicating” and “Frthermore.” Aim for precise chart-reporting language and check spelling; for example, describe a category as “accounting for” a share or as “the least frequently reported reason.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, and the overall meaning is generally recoverable. However, errors in agreement, articles and sentence construction occur often enough to make some sentences awkward. In the opening, “The pie charts illustrates” should use a plural verb, and “for learning foreign language” needs an article. “A change have also been noticed” has incorrect subject–verb agreement, while “Most of the teachers, argues” combines an unnecessary comma with a mismatched verb. The final paragraph also joins a list of figures without a clear sentence structure. Practise checking each sentence for a clear subject and verb, and use full stops to separate the chart’s reported categories.

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