Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-29
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 given chart describes the production and consumption of electricity by different countries in 2014. Ten countries were ranked from 1 to 10 based upon how much they generated and consumed electricity.
At number one is China which produced a great amount of electricity about 5398 billion kWh, also the most among the given countries and they used 5322 billion kWh of that energy.
The second one is the USA that produced 4099 billion kWh of electricity and used around 3866 billion kWh.
Other countries are far back as they had not produced such a large quantity of electricity. Russia is at 3 and production is 1057 biilion kWh and consumed 1038. At 4 is Japan with 936.2 billion kWh of energy and consumed 856.7 of it.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response covers some of the main features from the chart, specifically noting the top four countries (China, USA, Russia, and Japan) and citing specific production and consumption figures, such as China at 5398 billion kWh and the USA at 4099 billion kWh. However, the response fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 150 words, stopping abruptly after just 127 words and omitting the remaining six countries entirely. There is no clear overview provided. Because parts of the task are omitted and the word count falls below the required threshold, this heavily impacts the task achievement score, resulting in a band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay displays some logical organisation with a basic introduction and sequential reporting of the top countries. However, paragraphing is underdeveloped, and the transition between sentences feels quite mechanical. Phrases such as 'At number one is China' and 'The second one is the USA' lack sophisticated cohesive devices. Furthermore, the abrupt ending due to running out of text affects the overall structure and flow. Cohesive devices are used minimally and repetitively. This places the response firmly at a band 5.5.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The lexical range is limited and repetitive, relying heavily on basic verbs and nouns such as 'produced', 'consumed', 'electricity', and 'countries'. There are occasional errors or awkward phrasings, such as 'based upon how much they generated and consumed electricity' and 'Other countries are far back'. Although the numerical data is conveyed adequately, there is a lack of less common vocabulary or varied synonyms to describe trends and comparisons. Spelling is generally accurate, but the vocabulary is basic for Academic Task 1, warranting a band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'Ten countries were ranked from 1 to 10 based upon how much they generated and consumed electricity.' There are grammatical inaccuracies and awkward syntactic structures throughout, including 'consumed electricity' without a subject in the first paragraph, and 'Russia is at 3 and production is 1057 biilion kWh and consumed 1038.' Punctuation is also occasionally neglected. While communication is not severely impeded, the frequency of grammatical slips keeps the performance at a band 5.5.
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