Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-08-30
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 given pie chart represents the data of users of a library at a university, while the table showcases the results of the survey at the university library.
The pie chart shows the categories of library users i.e. Academic staff, full-time undergraduate and postgraduate, distance learning and part-time postgraduate. Most users are full-time graduate which are about 45%, while academic staff rarely visits the library. A quarter of users are full-time graduate, and 16% customers are part-time postgraduate. Lastly, 8% users are distance learning who wants all courses.
The table showcases the reviews regarding the facilities of library. Everyone is satisfied from library opening hours according to the table. Similarly, most people find the staff very helpful. Around 15 percent people are not happy about availability of books and journals while the rest is pleased. Finally, almost 20% of users are not satisfied with WI-FI reliability
Overall, most users of the university library are full-time postgraduate, while the least users are from staff. Users are very satisfied with library opening hours and staff helpfulness while some are concerned about reliability of wi-fi.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
You have successfully identified the main features of both the chart and the table. However, there are significant inaccuracies in your data reporting. For instance, you state that 'full-time graduate' users are 45%, but the chart labels them as 'full-time undergraduate'. Furthermore, you mention 'a quarter of users are full-time graduate' immediately after stating 45%, which is confusing and contradictory. You also describe distance learners as those 'who wants all courses', which is an interpretation not supported by the provided data. To improve, ensure you transcribe figures and labels precisely from the source material and avoid adding external assumptions or interpretations that are not explicitly stated in the prompt.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is logically organized into an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a summary. You use some cohesive devices such as 'similarly', 'finally', and 'overall' to guide the reader. However, the progression of ideas within the second paragraph is slightly mechanical. The referencing is sometimes unclear; for example, in the sentence '15 percent people are not happy... while the rest is pleased', the term 'rest' is vague. Additionally, the transition between the pie chart data and the table data could be smoother to better integrate the two sources of information. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the different data sets.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
Your vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks the precision required for a higher band. You use basic descriptors like 'happy' and 'pleased' when discussing survey results, which could be replaced with more academic terms like 'satisfied' or 'dissatisfied'. There are also some awkward collocations, such as '16% customers' (the prompt refers to 'users') and 'rarely visits' (the chart shows a percentage, not frequency of visits). To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise terminology related to data analysis, such as 'proportion', 'segment', or 'minority'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors. For example, 'Most users are full-time graduate' should be 'full-time graduates' (plural). You also have subject-verb agreement issues, such as '8% users are distance learning who wants all courses' (should be 'want'). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor errors, such as the missing period after 'i.e' and inconsistent capitalization. Increasing the variety of complex sentence structures while ensuring subject-verb agreement would significantly improve your score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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