Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-26

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

Categories of library users

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The pie chart illustrates the proportion of Categories of library users and the percentage of library user satisfaction.

Overall, full-time undergraduate account for the largest proporton, whereasT availabilty of journals represent the smallest share.

Firstly, full-time undergraduate represent the largest share, at 44%, followed by full-time undergraduate, at 25%. togarther, these categories account for approximatly 69%. By comparison academic staff and distance learning made up smaller proportion,at 7% and 8%. Moreover, the figure of part-time postgraduate show 16% which is one time bigger than distance learning.

Tuerning to that table, helpfulness of staff recorded the higher figure, at 95% satisfaction level, followed by library opening hours at 65%. In contrast, availability of staff had a lower figure of 45% satisfaction level which is two time smaller than helpfulness of staff. Furthermore, the part of availability of books is 50% satisfied and not satisfied level is 10%. Besides, reliability of wi-fi saves 48% satisfaction level and fairly satisfied is 33% while not satisfied is 19%.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response successfully covers both parts of the prompt, addressing the pie chart regarding categories of library users and the table showing user satisfaction levels. An overview is attempted, noting the highest and lowest points, although there is a slight misreading in the overview regarding the availability of journals (the lowest satisfaction item). The key features are selected and reported, such as full-time undergraduates accounting for 44% and staff helpfulness recording the highest satisfaction at 95%. However, some data points contain minor inaccuracies, such as repeating 'full-time undergraduate' instead of postgraduate in the second sentence. Despite these minor flaws, the task is addressed adequately, placing it firmly in the band 6 category.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a clear overall progression, moving from the pie chart to the table. Paragraphing is used to separate the introduction/overview and the two body sections, although the formatting could be tidier. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as 'Firstly', 'By comparison', 'Moreover', and 'In contrast'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical, and there are mechanical errors in punctuation and spacing throughout the text (e.g., 'whereasT', 'togarther', 'Tuerning to that table'). These mechanical cohesion issues and occasional awkward transitions prevent the response from reaching a higher band.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms like 'proportion', 'share', 'satisfaction level', and 'availability'. There are several attempts to use less common vocabulary and comparative structures, such as 'one time bigger than' and 'two time smaller than', though these expressions are unnatural. Additionally, there are numerous spelling and typographical errors throughout the text, including 'proporton', 'availabilty', 'togarther', 'approximatly', 'Tuerning', and 'saves' instead of 'shows'. Because these lexical errors and typos do not seriously impede communication, the performance aligns with band 5.5 to 6.0, rounded here to 6.0 for adequate task coverage.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and comparative structures. However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are numerous errors in subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'full-time undergraduate account' (should be plural), 'the figure of part-time postgraduate show', and 'the part of availability of books is 50% satisfied'. Punctuation and capitalization errors are also present, such as 'whereasT' and missing capital letters. While simple sentences are generally understandable, the frequency of grammatical and mechanical errors keeps the score at a band 5.5.

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