Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-29

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 demonstrates the outcomes of a survey of library users at a university.

Overall, full time undergraduate users contribute almost half of the total results, while the academic staff participate least as compare to other categories of library visitors. On the other hand library client are highly satisfied with the helpfulness of staff, however their few percentage is completely satisfied with avalability of journals.

Firstly full time undergraduate users of library is 44% at a university, while academic staff percentage is almost 7% in library utilization. However, full time postgraduate users of library are almost 25%.

The satisfation of library consumers is 95% for helfulness of staff. In addition 45% of library users are very satisfied with the availability of journals, while about 20% are not satisfied with them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student attempts to cover both the pie chart showing categories of library users and the table displaying satisfaction levels. An overview is provided, noting that full-time undergraduates are the largest group while academic staff form the smallest. Key figures are correctly reported, such as 44% for full-time undergraduates and 95% for staff helpfulness satisfaction. However, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 131 words. This under-length impacts the depth of the response and leads to a penalty under Task Achievement, preventing the score from rising higher despite accurate data reporting.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is organized into four brief paragraphs, starting with an introduction and an overall statement, followed by body details. However, paragraphing is somewhat disjointed due to the short length, and transitions are basic. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'On the other hand', 'Firstly', and 'In addition', but referencing is occasionally weak (e.g., 'their few percentage'). Progression is present, moving from user categories to satisfaction metrics, but the overall logical flow is somewhat choppy and lacks fully developed cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range to communicate the main features of the visual data, utilizing terms such as 'outcomes', 'proportion' (implicitly), 'utilization', and 'satisfaction'. However, there are several lexical and collocation errors, including 'participate least as compare', 'library client are highly satisfied', 'few percentage', and 'avalability' (spelling). Words are sometimes misused, such as 'client' instead of 'users' or 'patrons'. These errors do not completely impede communication but restrict the lexical score to a 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

A mix of simple and complex sentence structures is attempted, such as 'The pie chart demonstrates...' and 'In addition 45% of library users are very satisfied with the availability of journals, while about 20% are not satisfied with them.' Grammatical control is variable. There are notable errors in subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'full time undergraduate users of library is 44%', 'helfulness' (spelling), missing commas, and preposition errors ('as compare to'). Complex structures often contain minor flaws, placing this criterion at a solid band 5.5.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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