Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-30
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 given line graphs displays the information about the number of shops being closed and new shops being opened in a single country during a time period of year 2011 and 2018
Overall, the highest number of shops being opened in a single year was around 8500 shops.While, the highest number of shops being closed recorded during a time period was approximately 7100 shops.
Evaluating the given line graphs, nearly 8500 shops were opened with closing of 6300 shops in year 2011.However, shop openings graph had a massive downfall in its graph between 2011 and 2012.It fell from 8500 shops openings in 2011 to only 4000 shops oppenings in 2012.Whereas, graph of shops closure remained steady with 6000 closure in 2012 to 7000 in 2013 and 6500 in 2014 before experiencing highest downfall.It went from 6500 shops closure in 2014 to 700 closure in 2015.
Looking at the remaining information, shops opening increased steadily till 2014 after downfall in [redacted phone] openings in 2013 to 6000 in 2014. In contrast,shops opening again experienced downfall in 2015 with only 4000 opening and remained nearly same till 2017.In addition, it recorded 3000 shops opening in the 2018.Talking about the shop closure,it experienced a significant increase in its graph after 2015 downfall.It went from 700 shops closure to 5100 shops by 2016 and remained nearly till 2018.Additionally, it recorded 5200 shops closure in 2018.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The student covers most of the key features of the data, presenting an overview and reporting specific figures such as the initial data points and notable fluctuations like the 2012 drop in openings and the 2015 drop in closures. However, there are some inaccuracies in reading the graph data, most notably stating that closures fell to "700" in 2015 when the graph indicates 600, and writing "7100" as the peak closure instead of 7200. Furthermore, the overview mentions the highest opening and closure figures but lacks a broader summary of the overall trends across the period. These data misreadings and minor omissions prevent the response from reaching a Band 7.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response is organized into clear paragraphs, starting with an introduction, followed by an overview, and body paragraphs that deal with the timeline chronologically. There is an attempt to use cohesive devices such as "Overall," "Evaluating the given line graphs," "However," and "In contrast." However, paragraphing is somewhat erratic, with the main body divided into two parts that handle information rather mechanically. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and spacing issues after periods (e.g., "2018While") hinder smooth progression. Overall arrangement is coherent, but the mechanical cohesion and punctuation flaws place this in the Band 6 category.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting appropriate topic-specific terms like "shop closures," "shop openings," "downfall," and "steady." However, there are noticeable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as using "oppenings" (misspelling) and phrases like "massive downfall in its graph" rather than a natural phrasing like "a sharp decline in the number of openings." Repetition of structures like "shops opening" and "shops closure" restricts the flexibility of lexical expression, keeping the score at Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though complex structures are often faulty or awkward. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with missing articles (e.g., "in year 2011", "after downfall in 2012"), incorrect prepositions, and punctuation/spacing mistakes (e.g., "8500 shops.While", missing spaces after periods). While communication is not severely impeded and the meaning remains generally clear, the frequency of basic grammatical errors and punctuation oversights prevents the writing from achieving a Band 6.
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