Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-20

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 line graph illustrates the number of shops closed and new shops that opened in a country from 2011 to 2018.

Overall, the number of both closed shops and renew shops reclined over the period of 8 years. The new shops were dominating in 2011; howver, the number dropped below the closed shops in 2018 after experiencing fluctuations. The closed shops outnumbered new shops just before 2016.

In 2011, almost 8500 new shops were openend, which experienced a sharp rise and fall to reach just over 6100 openings in 2014, followed by decline and level off at 4000 before dropping to 3000 new shops in 2018.

Conversely, the pattern for closed shops showed oscillations followed by a crossover in 2014 at just over 6000 before reaching a bottom in 2015 at about only 600 shops. This numbered increased followed by a level off before reaching about 5100 shops

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student covers the main trends in the line graph, noting the general downward trajectory of both shop openings and closures between 2011 and 2018. An overview is provided, and key features such as the peak in openings in 2011 and the dramatic dip in closures in 2015 are highlighted. However, there are some inaccuracies in data reporting; for example, the student claims new shops 'experienced a sharp rise... to reach just over 6100 openings in 2014', whereas openings actually started at 8,500 in 2011 and fell before rising to 6,200 in 2014. Furthermore, the length requirement of 150 words was not met, as the response contains 148 words. This slightly impacts the completeness of the task response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is structured with a clear introduction, an overview paragraph, and two body paragraphs covering each trend respectively. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'Conversely', and 'followed by' are employed to guide the reader through the data. However, referencing and progression are occasionally flawed, as seen in the slightly disjointed reporting of dates and figures in the final paragraph where sentence structures trail off without punctuation, leading to a mechanical flow in places.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student attempts a range of vocabulary suitable for describing graphical data, such as 'fluctuations', 'oscillations', 'crossover', and 'dominating'. However, there are several lexical errors and spelling mistakes, including 'renew shops' instead of 'new shops', 'reclined' instead of 'declined', 'howver' instead of 'however', and 'openend' instead of 'opened'. These errors, alongside non-standard phrasing like 'reaching a bottom', detract from lexical control and place the response firmly in the band 6 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and participial phrases such as 'which experienced a sharp rise' and 'followed by decline'. There are, however, several noticeable grammatical and punctuation errors. For instance, 'This numbered increased followed by a level off' contains a tense and word form error, and the final sentence lacks a terminal full stop. Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear and communication is rarely impeded.

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

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