Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-14
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 depicts the different kinds of library users at a university, while the tabluar chart illustrates the percentage changes in the satisfaction level by these users.
Overall, full-time undergraduates accounts the largest proportion, while academic staff constitutes the lowest. The users are extremely satisfied with helpfulness of staff and are largely disappointed by availability of journals.
The library users are categorised into five categories, where full-time undergraduate are dominant sector, with 44%. Followed by full-time postgraduate, who accounts for a quarter.Part-time postgraduate, on the other hand, has less than one fifth share. Distance learning and academic staff, together makes up 15% of the total and still less than all other sectors.
These library users were highly satisfied with helpfulness of staff(95%), whereas they are not satisfied with availablility of journals. The percentage of very satisfied remained relatively higher in all cases as compared to fairl satisfied and not satisfied. However, still 40% users were fairly satisfied with availabililty of books.
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
The student successfully addresses the main features of both the pie chart and the table. An overview is provided, noting that full-time undergraduates account for the largest proportion and academic staff the lowest, alongside general satisfaction trends. Key data points are selected and reported, such as full-time undergraduates at 44% and staff helpfulness satisfaction at 95%. However, some comparisons and figures lack complete precision or development, and there are minor inaccuracies in reporting specific categories. For example, stating that distance learning and academic staff together make up 15% and 'still less than all other sectors' is slightly imprecise in context. Nevertheless, the response covers all parts of the task with relevant ideas, earning a solid band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is arranged coherently with a logical overall structure, dividing the introduction, overview, chart details, and table details into distinct paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'Overall', 'on the other hand', and 'whereas'. However, referencing and cohesion are occasionally faulty or mechanical, as seen in the slightly disjointed transition between sentences in the body paragraphs. Paragraphing is present and appropriate for an Academic Task 1 response, though the logical progression between the data points could be smoother. Overall, the structural arrangement meets the requirements for a band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'proportion', 'constitutes', 'categorised', and 'satisfaction level'. There are, however, noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'tabluar' instead of 'tabular', 'accounts' instead of 'account for', and 'fairl' instead of 'fairly'. Additionally, 'availablility' is misspelled. While these errors occur, they do not impede communication, and the vocabulary used is sufficient to convey the main trends of the visual data, aligning well with the band 6.0 descriptors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses ('who accounts for a quarter') and subordinate clauses ('while academic staff constitutes the lowest'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors and minor slips throughout the text. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues like 'full-time undergraduates accounts', missing articles such as 'where full-time undergraduate are dominant sector', and punctuation issues like spacing around parentheses. Despite these recurring errors, the meaning remains clear and communication is rarely impeded, which is characteristic of band 6.0 performance.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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