Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-16

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart and table below show the results of a survey of library users at a university.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Categories of library users

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The pie chart illustrates the categories of library users. The table presents the data about the satisfaction of library users in various categories.

Overall, most of the library users are full-time undergraduates, while the least users are distance learning. The students of university are highly satisfied with the helpfulness of staff and almost half of the users with the availability of the books.

To begin with, the largest category of library is full time undergraduate which accounted for 44%, while the users from distance learning category stood least at 8% only. The 25% of the users of library are full-time graduate, followed by double of distance learning category at 16% of part-time postgraduate. The academic staff account for only 7%.

Turning to satisfaction, the helpfulness of staff are very satisfied to 95% users, while only 5% users are fairly satisfied. The category of library opening hours are very satisfied to 65% learners, however 35% users are fairly satisfied, followed by 50% learners are highly satisfied with availability of book, however 40% are fairly satisfied and 12% are not satisfied. The category of availability of journals and reliability of wi-fi accounted for 45% and 48% are very satisfied, and 20% and 19% are not satisfied respectively, while with minimal difference of 2% are fairly satisfied in both the categories

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have successfully identified the main features of both the chart and the table. You provided a clear overview and supported your points with relevant data. However, there are some inaccuracies in your reporting. For example, you stated that 16% of users are part-time postgraduates, but the chart indicates this figure is actually for part-time undergraduates. Additionally, your description of the satisfaction data is slightly confusing; for instance, you mentioned 'double of distance learning category at 16% of part-time postgraduate', which is syntactically awkward and mathematically unclear. To improve, ensure you double-check the labels on the chart and use more precise language when comparing figures.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized into paragraphs, with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'Turning to', and 'however' to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing, such as 'the category of library opening hours are very satisfied to 65% learners'. This makes the progression of ideas feel slightly mechanical. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensure that the subject of your sentences consistently matches the data being described to improve readability.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the main points of the task. You use terms like 'accounted for', 'category', and 'satisfaction' appropriately. However, there are some issues with word choice and collocation, such as 'the least users are distance learning' (should be 'the fewest') and 'the helpfulness of staff are very satisfied to 95% users' (the staff are not satisfied; the users are satisfied with the staff). These errors occasionally impede the precision of your report. Expanding your range of reporting verbs and adjectives would help you achieve a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you can communicate your ideas, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and preposition usage. For example, 'the helpfulness of staff are very satisfied' and 'the category of library opening hours are very satisfied'. These errors are noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding the data. To improve, pay closer attention to subject-verb agreement and ensure that your sentence structures are grammatically sound when describing percentages and categories.

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