Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Complete Catalyst · 2026-10-16

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 illustrate the proportions of reasons for why people want to learn a foreign language according to the teacheres, while the 2nd pie chart shows the percentage of teachers reporting increase in different reasons for learning a new language in recent years.

Overall, the the most popular reason reported is travelling, but a significant proportion of teachers believe there no change in that in recent years. Some other popular reasons reported are business/work or buying property in that country. Most teachers believe buying property overseas has been a major motivation for learning a new langauge for people. Other reasons include general interest, personal development, foreign partner and social contacts.

33% of peope wants to learns a foreign language for convenience when travelling to that specific country, and 15% of teachers think there's no change in that recently, and only 3% believe its increasing. In contrast, 34% of teachers report that the reason of buying property overseas has seen a significant increase in recent years.

On ther other hand, 6%, 15%, 4%, of teachers report increase in general interest, social contacts, personal development, and a foreign partner respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main reason in the first chart—travel at 33%—and accurately highlight the strong reported increase for buying property overseas at 34%. You also include several figures from the second chart, so the report is relevant and gives the reader some key information. However, coverage is uneven: the overview says there is “no change” without clarifying that this is a separate response category, and it does not clearly summarise the main contrast between the charts. Some figures are omitted, including the first chart’s 26% for business/work and 19% for buying property, while the second chart’s 19% for business/work is not reported. Develop a clearer overview and compare the leading categories across both charts.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs giving selected details. This helps the reader follow the general subject. However, progression between points is not consistently clear. The overview moves from travel to “no change,” then to business/work and property, without establishing a clear comparison or grouping. The final sentence lists four percentages, but its opening, “On ther hand,” does not signal a meaningful contrast, and the figures are not explicitly matched to their categories in a smooth way. Repeated use of “and” also makes some sentences feel like lists. Grouping the data by chart or by the largest and smallest responses, and using more precise links such as “by contrast” only where appropriate, would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “proportions,” “motivation,” “significant increase,” and “personal development.” These choices make the topic understandable and show some ability to vary wording. At times, however, phrasing is imprecise or repetitive: “reasons for why” is redundant, “convenience when travelling” adds an interpretation not stated in the chart, and “the reason of buying property” is an awkward collocation. There are also spelling errors such as “teacheres,” “langauge,” “peope,” and “ther,” which reduce accuracy. Aim for concise, chart-focused expressions such as “the proportion of teachers reporting…” and check spelling carefully before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast introduced by “In contrast” and a relative clause in “teachers believe buying property overseas has been…”. The main meaning is generally recoverable, but errors occur in agreement, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “The first pie chart illustrate” needs subject–verb agreement, while “33% of peope wants to learns” has problems with agreement and verb form. “The the most popular” contains a duplicated article, and “teachers believe there no change” is missing “is.” The long sentence beginning “33%…” also joins several ideas with repeated “and,” making the structure less controlled. Review agreement and verb patterns, and separate comparisons into clear sentences.

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