Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-03

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 5.0)

The pie chart and table represent the results of a questionnaire completed by the university library users.

Overall, among the categories(full-time undergraduate, full-time postgraduate, part time postgraduate, distance learning, and academic staff) the largest proportion represent the full time undergraduate students.Whilst the academic staff of university and students enrolled in distance learning courses have approximately the same share and has the lowest share in the proportion individually.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

Your response is severely under-length, containing only 67 words, which falls well short of the mandatory 150-word minimum. Because of this extreme brevity, you have only partially addressed the task. While you correctly identify the pie chart data for the highest category (full-time undergraduates) and the lowest categories (academic staff and distance learning), you completely fail to report or summarise any information from the data table regarding library user satisfaction levels. To reach a higher standard, you must ensure you meet the word count requirement and present a balanced overview covering all key features and datasets provided in the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

Your writing shows a basic attempt at organisation by providing an introductory sentence and an overall summary paragraph. However, the overall progression is limited because the text stops abruptly after just two sentences. You make some attempt at cohesive devices, such as 'Whilst', but referencing and linking are underdeveloped due to the extreme brevity of the response. To improve coherence and cohesion, you need to write a fully developed essay with multiple well-structured paragraphs that logically sequence the information and use a wider range of cohesive links naturally throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate basic vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'proportion', 'questionnaire', and 'categories'. However, the lexical range is limited due to the shortness of the response. There are also slight lexical and punctuation issues, such as missing spaces around parentheses and hyphens (e.g., 'part time' instead of 'part-time'). To achieve a higher score in lexical resource, you should incorporate a wider variety of less common vocabulary and precise reporting verbs and synonyms to describe statistical data without repetition.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

Your response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as the concessive clause introduced by 'Whilst'. However, there are notable grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'The pie chart and table represent the results of a questionnaire completed by the university library users' and the subject-verb agreement issue in 'the academic staff... and has the lowest share'. To improve your grammatical range and accuracy, you need to practice complex sentence patterns while ensuring strict agreement between subjects and verbs, proper article usage, and accurate punctuation across a full-length essay.

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

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