Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-12

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 top ten nations (Chaina, United States, Russia, Japan, India, Canada, Franch, Brazil, Germany, Korea. Rep) for the production and consumption of electricity in 2014.

Overall, it is evident that Chaina recorded the highest production and consumption compared to other countries, whereas Korea. Rep experienced the least in this sector.

Chaina had produced and consumed the largest figure of electricity 5398 and 5322 billion kWh. United States accounted for the second highest production and consumption country with 4099 and 3686 billion kWh. Russia, Japan and India were other three major producer and consumer, with figure raising from 698.8 to 1057 billion kWh.

Canada had produced electricity 618 billion kWh and consumed 499.9 kWh. followed by France with 561.2 and 462.9 billion kWh, respectively. Brazil and Germany reportedly similar at production of electricity with 530 and 526.6 billion kWh, however one of the major noticeable facts was that Germany consumed more electricity than their production at 582.5 billion kWh. Korea Rep had produced 485.1 billion kWh and consumed 449.5 billion kWh.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully addresses the main features of the chart by identifying the top nations for both electricity production and consumption in 2014, including China and the United States as clear front-runners, alongside minor players like Korea. Rep and France. Key comparisons are made, such as noting that Germany consumed more electricity than it produced. However, there are minor issues with overview selection; while an overview is attempted in the second sentence, it lacks a broader summary of the overall trend or relative scale beyond naming the highest and lowest. Data is generally reported accurately, though some figures contain minor reporting errors or omissions, such as omitting units for Canada's consumption (499.9 kWh). Overall, the response covers the core prompt adequately, placing it firmly at a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a logical progression of ideas starting from the top countries down to the rest. Paragraphing is utilised to separate the top two tiers of countries. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. For instance, transitional phrases are limited, and the phrase 'one of the major noticeable facts was that' is overly wordy. Referencing and pronoun use are occasionally awkward, such as 'their production' referring to Germany. Paragraph breaks are present, but logical flow between sentences within paragraphs could be smoother. These issues align with a Band 6.0 for Coherence and Cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully using terms like 'production', 'consumption', 'accounted for', and 'major producer'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'Chaina' (repeated multiple times), 'Franch', and 'Korea. Rep'. Furthermore, phrasing like 'largest figure of electricity 5398' and 'figure raising from' shows unnatural collocation and imprecise lexical control. While less common vocabulary is attempted, errors in spelling and word formation prevent the lexical score from reaching Band 7.0. Therefore, a Band 6.0 is appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and comparative forms such as 'compared to other countries, whereas...'. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text. Examples include tense and verb form issues ('Had produced and consumed', 'Canada had produced electricity 618 billion kWh and consumed 499.9 kWh'), missing prepositions, and punctuation slips like unclosed or mismanaged figures. Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear and communication is rarely impeded. This performance corresponds to a Band 5.5 descriptor profile.

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

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