Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-20
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 chart and table describes the survey in which reports of library users are included at a university.
Overall, full time undergraduates and full time postgraduates are dominant in library users. While, users are fully satisfied from library opening hours and helpfulness of staff. The availability of books and journals are fairly satisfied.
The chart describes that the full time graduates use library in highest proportion, that accounted at 44%. This is followed by full time undergraduates accounted at 25%. Whereas, the ratio declined for part time graduate that is 16%.
Library users are most satisfied from library opening hours and fairly satisfied accounted at 65% and 35% respectively. The 65% library visitors are very satisfied from helpfulness of staff and 5% fairly satisfied. Moreover, library users are very satisfied with the availability of book and journals are 50% and 45% respectively. whereas, users were very satisfied from reliability of wifi accounted at 48% and fairly satisfied at 33%.
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 covers all major parts of the prompt by reporting data from both the pie chart and the table. An overview is attempted, noting that undergraduates and postgraduates dominate user categories. However, there are some data inaccuracies and minor misinterpretations. For instance, the student states that 'full time graduates use library in highest proportion, that accounted at 44%,' but the chart actually labels this group as 'Full-time undergraduate.' Furthermore, in the final paragraph, the figures for staff helpfulness are misreported as 65% when the table clearly shows 95% for 'Very satisfied.' Because of these factual inaccuracies in reporting the visual data, the task achievement score is limited to Band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into four paragraphs, following a logical layout from an introduction and overview to body paragraphs detailing the chart and table. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty. The use of transition words like 'While,' at the start of a sentence and 'whereas,' lowercase mid-sentence disrupts the flow. Referencing can also be unclear, such as the dangling clauses in the final paragraph regarding satisfaction percentages. Paragraphing is present and helps structure the essay, but overall progression lacks smoothness, placing it firmly at Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The lexical range is adequate for the task, attempting some less common vocabulary such as 'proportion,' 'dominant,' and 'reliability.' However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors throughout the text. For example, the student writes 'reports of library users are included' instead of 'survey results,' and uses 'from' instead of 'with' or 'by' in phrases like 'satisfied from library opening hours.' There are also issues with pluralisation and word forms ('full time graduate' instead of 'undergraduate'). These inaccuracies do not entirely impede communication, corresponding to a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in preposition usage ('satisfied from' instead of 'satisfied with'), subject-verb agreement, and articles ('use library' instead of 'use the library'). The sentence structures often feel awkward or disjointed, as seen in 'The availability of books and journals are fairly satisfied,' where agreement and adjectives are misused. While basic meaning is communicated, the frequency of errors prevents the score from reaching Band 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.