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 pie graph compares the proportions of five different users of library, while the accompyning table illustrates the levels of users satisfaction in terms of five different features.
Overall, While the full-time undergraduate and the full-time postgraduate make up the vast majority of users, the acaemic staff constitut the least proportion of users. In terms of users satisfaction, the percentages of users who were very satisfied with working hours and helpfulness of staff were signigicantly higher.
The full-time undergraduate, which represent the largest category, constitute 44% of the total users, while the full-time postgraduate comprise a quarter (25%), ranking second. In contrast, the part-time postgraduate category account for 16%, followed by ditance learning, standing at 8%, with academic staff account for the minority of users at only 7%.
Looking at satisfaction levels, the majority of individuals were very satisfied with helpfullness of staff and library opening hours, at 95% and 65% respectively, while only 35% and 5% were faily satisfied and no one reported dissatisfaction with these features. Half of users were very satisfied with availability of book, at 50% and 40 % reported faily satisfied, with on
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response covers the main features of the data, including the user categories and satisfaction levels. However, the report is incomplete; it cuts off mid-sentence at the end, failing to finish the analysis of the final category (availability of books). While the overview is clear and the key data points are selected appropriately, the lack of completion prevents a higher score. To improve, ensure you provide a full summary of all data points presented in the prompt and avoid abrupt endings. The comparison between categories is generally well-handled, but the incomplete nature of the final paragraph significantly impacts the overall task coverage.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'while', and 'in terms of' are used to link ideas. However, the flow is disrupted by the incomplete final sentence, which leaves the reader without a conclusion or a finished thought. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two distinct data sets (categories and satisfaction). To reach a higher band, ensure that all sentences are fully formed and that the progression of ideas remains consistent until the very end of the response.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, using terms like 'proportions', 'illustrates', 'constitute', and 'minority'. There are several spelling errors, such as 'accompyning', 'acaemic', 'constitut', 'signigicantly', 'ditance', and 'helpfullness'. These errors are frequent enough to be noticeable but do not prevent the reader from understanding the intended meaning. To improve, focus on proofreading your work to catch these basic spelling mistakes and try to incorporate a slightly wider range of precise academic collocations to describe trends and data comparisons.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'academic staff constitut the least proportion', 'academic staff account for the minority') and article usage (e.g., 'the proportions of five different users of library'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the incomplete sentence at the end is a major grammatical failure. While the meaning is usually clear, the frequency of minor errors in agreement and spelling suggests a need for more careful editing of basic grammatical rules.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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