Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-11-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The bar chart below shows the top ten countries for the production and consumption of electricity in 2014.

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

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The bar chart illustrates the ten highest ranked nations for the making and use of electricity in 2014.

Overall, the china was highest rank nation of electricity making and usage after that, Korea rep was the lowest rank nation was making and usage of electricity.

In 2014, the china was the peak level of making and usage of electricity the figure was making 5,398 billion and usage was 5,322 billion. While the second highest peak level of making and usage of electricity was United states and the data was making of 4,099 billion or usage was 3,866 billion. Then Russia was making 1,057 and usage 1,038 of electricity, while japan was making 936.2 and usage 856.7 of electricity.

Subsequently, India was making of electricity 871 and usage of electricity was 698.8. Then Canada was the making of electricity 618.9 billion and usage of 499.9 billion as compared to France was making of electricity 561.2 billion and usage of 462.9 billion. After that, Brazil was making of electricity 530.7 billion and usage was 455.8 billion in contrast Germany was making 526.6 billion and usage was 582.5 billion.

AI examiner evaluation

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

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the chart’s subject and report many figures accurately, including the leading values for China and the United States and the figures for Russia and Japan. However, the response only partly selects and summarises the main features. The overview says China was highest and Korea lowest, but it does not clearly highlight the large gap between the top two countries and the rest, or note that Germany is the exception where consumption exceeds production. In fact, Germany’s consumption figure is higher than its production, so this is an important comparison to emphasise. The final country, Korea, is not discussed in the detail, and the overview’s wording about rankings is unclear. Focus on a concise overview of the main patterns before choosing representative comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs presenting figures. The information generally moves from the highest-producing countries to those with lower totals, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Then,” and “After that” help signal progression. However, the sequence of comparisons becomes mechanical, with repeated “making” and “usage” constructions, and some links do not clearly show the relationship between the figures. For example, “in contrast Germany” needs clearer punctuation and a more explicit comparison. The overview also does not prepare the reader for the detailed comparisons that follow. Grouping the leading countries together and the lower-ranked countries together, while using clearer contrast and comparison links, would make the progression more effective.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant vocabulary such as “bar chart,” “ranked,” “figure,” and “in contrast,” so the topic is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are unnatural or repetitive. “Making and use of electricity” is less precise than the chart’s terms, while “peak level” is not a natural way to describe the highest figures. Repeated use of “making” and “usage” also makes the report sound less fluent. Some country names are inconsistently capitalised, including “china,” “United states,” and “japan.” Use standard chart language consistently, such as “production,” “consumption,” “amount,” and “output,” and choose verbs such as “generated” or “consumed” where appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts a mixture of simple statements and longer comparisons, but many sentences contain errors in sentence structure and grammatical patterns. For example, “the china was highest rank nation” is missing appropriate articles and has an unclear structure, while “Korea rep was the lowest rank nation was making” combines clauses without a clear grammatical link. The repeated pattern “was making … and usage was …” also leads to awkward, incomplete constructions. Some longer sentences, such as the comparison of Canada and France, are understandable, but punctuation and clause connections need more control. Practise forming complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and use consistent past-tense reporting patterns, for example, “China produced … and consumed …”.

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