Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-05
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 5.0)
The graph illustrates that how many shops closed down and how many new shops opened in a country between 2011 and 2018.
Overall, both the number of shops opening and shop closures went down by the end of the period. In the beginning, more new shops were opening. However, this pattern flipped at the end and more shops were closing.
Looking at the number of new shop opening, 85,000 shops were opened in 2011. The very next year opening of shops declined in 2012 to 4000 opening. This had a very slight change between 2012 to 2014. The opening get back to 6000 before falling to it slowest point on 3000.
Looking at the shop closures, graph begins with 63,000 in 2011. But next yaer it declined to 6000, before reaching out its highest point to72,000 in 2013. Afterwards, suddenly shop closures crashed to an all-time low of about 500 in 2015. Then, it starts rising again and ends at 51,000 in 2018.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0
The response makes an attempt to address the prompt by highlighting general trends and some specific figures, but it contains severe data inaccuracies that misrepresent the chart. For example, the student writes that "85,000 shops were opened in 2011" and "63,000" closures occurred, when the values were actually 8,500 and 6,400 respectively, adding an extra zero to multiple figures. Furthermore, the massive drop in closures in 2015 is misreported as "about 500" instead of the actual data point (which is around 600, though the student writes 600 earlier and then distorts other parts). Because of these substantial inaccuracies and a tendency to present data that fails to reflect the visual information accurately, the response only minimally addresses the task requirements.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5
The response is organized into clear paragraphs, starting with a brief introduction, followed by an overview, and separate body paragraphs for openings and closures, which fully meets the requirements of Band 6 and shows elements of the next band's clear logical organization. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader through the data, such as "Overall", "Looking at", and "Afterwards". However, referencing and cohesion can feel somewhat mechanical or repetitive, and paragraph progression is occasionally hindered by the inclusion of distorted figures. Nevertheless, the overall arrangement is coherent, allowing the reader to follow the structural progression of the text from start to finish.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for discussing trends, employing terms such as "illustrates", "declined", "falling", and "rising". However, there are noticeable errors in word choice and numerical transcription conventions, alongside spelling mistakes such as "yaer" instead of year. Less common vocabulary is attempted with some inaccuracy, and the persistent misstatement of figures strains the reader's interpretation of the lexical content. To reach a higher level, the student needs to use vocabulary and numerical data with greater precision and eliminate basic spelling and scale errors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like "The graph illustrates that how many shops..." and "The very next year opening of shops declined...". However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, including awkward phrasing, missing articles, and incorrect prepositional patterns (e.g., "slowest point on 3000" instead of "at 3000"). The presence of frequent errors in basic sentence construction and verb agreement means the control of grammar remains limited, causing occasional difficulty for the reader and keeping the response firmly at this level.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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