Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below shows the number of shops that closed and the number of new shops that opened in one country between 2011 and 2018.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Number of shop closures and openings 2011– 2018

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The graph illustrates the number of shop openers and closers during the year between 2011 and 2018.

In an overview graph shows the downward action of shops openers while shops closers fluctuated considerably. The most noticeable feature is that the shop closers fall dramatically to below around 1000 in the year of 2015. whereas shops openers ended their period below in 2018.

In the beginning The amount of shops openers is 8500 which is shown highest in the graph while shops closers are 6000 in 2011. after this openers shows a small fall in 2012 and remaining 4000 while there is a small change of shops closers which is 6000.After that, openings recovered to approximately 5,000 in 2013 and continued to rise to about 6,200 in 2014. Meanwhile, shop closures reached a peak of roughly 7,200 in 2013 before declining to around 6,500 the following year.

In 2015, the number of shop closures experienced a dramatic fall to below 1,000, which was the lowest figure shown on the graph. However, this number recovered rapidly to just over 5,000 in 2016 and remained relatively stable during the final three years, finishing at approximately 5,200 in 2018. By contrast, shop openings stayed at around 4,000 in both 2015 and 2016 before increasing slightly to about 4,200 in 2017. Finally, the figure declined to approximately 3,000 in 2018, the lowest level for shop openings during the period

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all parts of the task and provides a clear overview of the main trends. You successfully identified the key features, such as the dramatic fall in closures in 2015 and the overall downward trend for openings. However, the overview paragraph is slightly disjointed, and some data points are described with minor inaccuracies (e.g., stating openings were 8500 in 2011 when the graph shows 8000). To reach a higher band, ensure that data points are extracted with absolute precision and that the overview highlights the most significant differences between the two categories throughout the entire period.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices effectively, such as 'Meanwhile', 'By contrast', and 'Finally'. However, there are some mechanical errors in cohesion, such as the awkward phrasing in the opening sentence ('during the year between') and the lack of proper sentence structure in the overview ('In an overview graph shows...'). Improving the flow between sentences and ensuring that referencing is consistent would help achieve a higher score.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'fluctuated', 'dramatic fall', and 'remained relatively stable'. However, there are some issues with word choice and word formation, such as 'shop openers' and 'shop closers' instead of 'new shop openings' and 'shop closures'. Additionally, there are minor errors in phrasing, such as 'downward action' instead of 'downward trend'. To improve, focus on using more precise nouns and collocations related to data description, and avoid repeating the same terms too frequently.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the year of 2015'), subject-verb agreement ('openers shows'), and prepositions ('below in 2018'). Some sentences are poorly constructed, such as 'In the beginning The amount of shops openers is 8500 which is shown highest in the graph'. These errors occur regularly, though they do not impede overall communication. Increasing the accuracy of your complex sentences and proofreading for basic grammatical slips will significantly improve your score.

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