Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-04

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 given bar chart distributed the proportions of library users at a university. The table has details about user satisfaction however, it is divided into three categories- highly satisfied, moderate satisfied and not satisfied in different kinds of library users.

On the one hand, the maximum proportion of library users are full-time undergraduate having 44% of total. Whereas, the distance learning users of all courses have the least proportion of about 8%. The full-time postgraduate students are having 25% and part-time postgraduate students have 16% of total library user. According to the survey, the academic staff has second last minimum users of 7%.

On the other hand, the library user satisfaction in terms libarary services are the staff is very helpfull and opening hours are very strict i.e. the users are highly satisfied with these two services. Furthermore, the availability of published journals are not very much satisfactory as about 20 users are not satisfied with this service. Similarly, with the reliability of wi-fi but its controversial as 48 users are highly satisfied whereas, 19 are not satisfied. Additionally, 50 users are highly satisfied with the books availability whereas, 10 users are not satisfied with this service.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You report the main user groups accurately, including the largest share for full-time undergraduates and the smaller shares for distance learners and academic staff. You also select relevant satisfaction results, such as staff helpfulness and opening hours receiving strong ratings, and identify journals as the least satisfactory service. However, there is no clear overall summary of the main patterns, and some comparisons are incomplete. Most importantly, the table gives percentages, but you repeatedly describe them as numbers of users—for example, “20 users” and “48 users.” The description of opening hours as “very strict” is also unsupported; the data show satisfaction levels, not the reason for them. A clearer overview and precise reporting of percentages would make the response more complete and accurate.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: it first describes the user categories and then turns to satisfaction, with paragraphing that helps separate these two parts. Linking phrases such as “On the one hand,” “On the other hand,” and “Furthermore” guide the reader through the information. However, the contrastive pair “On the one hand / On the other hand” is not quite appropriate because the paragraphs cover different chart components rather than opposing views. The satisfaction paragraph also moves between services without a clear ranking or grouping, and “Similarly” does not make the relationship between journals and wi-fi fully clear. Organising the satisfaction results from most positive to least positive, and using more precise references, would improve progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “proportions,” “satisfaction,” “availability,” and “reliability,” so the reader can generally understand the subject. There is also some attempt to vary wording, for example “maximum proportion” and “least proportion.” However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural: “distributed the proportions” does not describe what the chart shows, “moderate satisfied” is not a natural category label, and “published journals” adds a meaning not present in the data. Spelling errors such as “libarary” and “helpfull” also reduce accuracy. In addition, “users” is repeatedly used where the intended meaning is percentages. More precise chart language and careful checking of spelling and collocations would strengthen this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of sentence forms, including comparisons and clauses introduced by “whereas” and “as,” and the main message is usually understandable. However, some sentence structures are incomplete or awkward. For example, “The table has details about user satisfaction however, it is divided…” needs clearer punctuation and clause structure, while “the library user satisfaction in terms libarary services are the staff…” lacks a clear grammatical relationship between its parts. There are also recurring problems with articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries, as in “the full-time postgraduate students are having 25%” and “whereas, 19 are not satisfied.” Use direct constructions such as “Full-time postgraduates account for 25%” and check punctuation around linking words.

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

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