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 piechart illustrates the proportions of various group of people at a university.
Overall, it is clear that full time students make up the vast majority of the university population, with undergraduate being the largest group. In contrast, academic staff has the least percentage in all categories.
To begin with, full time undergraduuate student has the largest segment accounting for 44% of the total population. Full time postgraduate learners make the second highest group at one quarter(25%).
Regarding the remaing categories of the group,part time postgraduates accountinf for 16% of the population. Individuals enrolled in distance learning represents at 8%. Finally academic staff make up the smallest proportion at only 7% of the entire chart.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student successfully identifies the main features of the pie chart regarding the categories of library users, noting that full-time undergraduates are the largest group and academic staff make up the smallest proportion. However, there is a significant omission: the prompt explicitly mentions both a chart and a table representing survey results (including library user satisfaction across various categories such as opening hours, staff helpfulness, and book availability), but the student completely ignores the table. Furthermore, the response is severely under-length, containing only 115 words against the mandatory 150-word minimum, which restricts the development of the task. Due to the failure to address all parts of the visual data and the word count penalty, the response falls into the lower-middle band.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The text has a discernible overall structure with an introductory sentence and a concluding body paragraph attempting to sequence the data logically. Basic cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'To begin with', and 'Regarding the remaing categories'. However, paragraphing is underdeveloped, as the response is essentially structured as a single block of text following a brief introduction. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and typographical errors in cohesion (such as 'remaing' and missing spaces after commas) disrupt the flow. While the progression of ideas is generally understandable, the lack of proper paragraphing and limited cohesive range keep this criterion at a moderate level.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully employing terms such as 'proportions', 'vast majority', 'segment', and 'proportion'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('piechart', 'undergraduuate', 'remaing', 'accountinf', 'represents at') and instances of awkward word formation ('group of people', 'has the least percentage'). Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success and accuracy. While communication is not severely hindered for the most part, the frequent lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips prevent the response from achieving a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Overall, it is clear that full time students make up the vast majority of the university population, with undergraduate being the largest group.' There are, however, frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement ('academic staff has', 'undergraduuate student has', 'Individuals... represents'), missing articles ('with undergraduate being', 'at distance learning'), and punctuation issues. Sentence structures lack advanced variety, and grammatical inaccuracies surface frequently throughout the short text, though they rarely obscure the core meaning entirely.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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