Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-22
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 and table illustrates the results of a survey of library users at a university.
From an overall analysis, it is evident that the large proportion of library is used by full-time undergraduate while the academic staff has consistently lowest percentage for using library. On the other hand, majority of satisfaction is provided from helpfulness of staff whereas the most dissatisfaction is shown in journals.
To expound the pie chart in detail, the highest number of library is used by the full-time undergraduates contributes to 44%. Furthermore, the full-time postgraduate are using the library nearly 25%. However, there are only 16% of part-time postgraduate students visit to the library. Probing ahead, there are certainly smallest share of library patrons shown by distance learning and academic staff represents 8% and 7%.
As further scrutiny reveals, the more contebded library attendeer with opening hours about 65% and reasonable satisfied are 35%. Moreover, the majority percentage of library clientele with the statisfication of helpfulness of staff approximately 95% and satisfied to some extent is 5%.
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 identifies and reports the main features from both the pie chart and the table, covering categories of library users and satisfaction rates. An overview is attempted in the second paragraph, capturing general trends such as undergraduates being the main users and staff having the lowest percentage. However, some of the data reporting contains awkward phrasing and minor inaccuracies in precise interpretation, such as stating 'the highest number of library is used by the full-time undergraduates' and omitting some key table data like book and journal availability, focusing only on opening hours and helpfulness of staff. Despite these omissions, the main features are adequately outlined, fulfilling the requirements for Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure separating the introduction, overview, and body details. Cohesive devices are used to signal progression, such as 'From an overall analysis', 'On the other hand', and 'To expound the pie chart in detail'. However, some cohesive transitions and referencing are mechanical or awkward, such as 'Probing ahead' and 'As further scrutiny reveals'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different parts of the visual data, but overall referencing and flow occasionally feel disjointed, aligning the response with Band 6.0 descriptors.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common collocations and topic-specific terms like 'undergraduate', 'postgraduate', 'satisfaction', and 'patrons'. However, there are notable word-choice errors, incorrect word forms, and non-standard phrasing throughout, such as 'the large proportion of library is used', 'the most dissatisfaction is shown in journals', 'contebded library attendeer', and 'reasonable satisfied' instead of 'reasonably satisfied'. These lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips do not impede communication, placing the response firmly in Band 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and participial phrases (e.g., 'contributes to 44%', 'students visit to the library'). However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb forms, prepositions, and sentence construction, such as 'The given pie chart and table illustrates' (subject-verb agreement), 'consistently lowest percentage for using library' (missing article), and 'students visit to the library' (unnecessary prepositional extension). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, they recur too frequently for a higher band score.
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.