Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-13

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 and table charts explain the outcome of the proportions of very satisfied, fairly satisfied and not satisfied students in the university's library while showing us the type of students we can find there.

Overall, we can see the majority of the students who spent their time studying there are full time undergrads students with the percentage of 44%. After this about 25% of the individuals are full-time post graduates working on their thesis and projects. We can see 16% of the people there are part time postgraduates while, only 7%of them are either academic staff or some people enrolled in distance learning courses with the proportion of 8%.

However, we can see about 65% of the students are very satisfied with the opening timings of the library but 35% of people finds it inconvenient.

About 95% of the individuals finds the staff working there very helpful but only 5% of the people seems to be partly satisfied with them. With the availability of the books for students there about 50% of them are very satisfied with the collection and 40% seems to be okay with it and 10% of these students don't like that at all. It also shows that about 45-48% of the students there are happy with the availability of the journals and wifi therefore, 33-35% of them were fairly satisfied with it but 19-20% students were not satisfied at all.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of both the pie chart and the table. You successfully identify the categories of library users, noting that full-time undergraduates form the majority at 44%, followed by full-time postgraduates at 25%. You also report the satisfaction levels regarding opening times, staff, book collections, journals, and wifi. However, the data for journals and wifi is presented as a vague range ('about 45-48%') rather than precise reporting, which shows a slight tendency to group data inexactly. Nevertheless, an overview is provided at the beginning, and key comparisons are made throughout the text, satisfying the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 7.0, ultimately fitting well within the Band 6 descriptor for addressing all parts while containing some under-developed or imprecise reporting.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The report maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs addressing user types, and subsequent paragraphs detailing satisfaction levels. Paragraphing is attempted, although grouping satisfaction data into separate paragraphs could have been structured more logically. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'However', and 'About' are used to link ideas, but referencing is sometimes repetitive, and transitions feel slightly mechanical at times (e.g., repeatedly starting sentences with 'We can see'). Paragraph transitions could be smoother to establish a more fluent progression. Overall, the organization is clear enough to follow easily, aligning with the criteria for Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully employing terms such as 'proportions', 'individuals', 'inconvenient', and 'collection'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, such as 'distance learning courses' and 'availability', but inaccuracies in word choice and phrasing occur, such as 'opening timings' instead of 'opening hours' or 'opening times', and 'some people finds it' (subject-verb agreement error). Spelling is generally accurate, and vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main features of the visual data, though lack of precision in describing statistical ranges keeps the lexical score at a Band 6 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writing displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and introductory phrases. However, there are several noticeable grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., '35% of people finds it', '95% of the individuals finds', '19-20% students were') and preposition use. Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while errors are present, they rarely impede communication. The control over complex structures is somewhat inconsistent, which places this response comfortably at Band 6.

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