Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-30

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 below compares the production and consumption of electricity between top ten countries in billion kWh in 2014.

Overall, China produced greater amount of electricity and accordingly it's consumption was also the largest while, Korea produced least amount of electricity in 2014. Only Germany is the country whose electricity consumption was greater than it's generating power.

China generated and consumed 5398 and 5322 billion kwh electricity while United States was slightly below, as it's generating capability was 4099 kwh and consumed 3866 kwh. Russia's capability to produce electricity lies around 1057 kwh and it is similar to that of Japan whose production was 936 kwh. In India 871 kwh while in Canada 618.9 billion kwh electricity was generated.

France, Brazil and Germany generated sililar amounts of electricity for instance, 561.2, 530.7 and 526.6 billion kwh respectively. The electric consumption of each country is slightly lower than their generating capability except Germany whose consumption is slightly more than their production. At the last, Korea Republic produced least amount of electricity, around 485.1 billion kwh while it consumed 449.5 kwh.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student successfully highlights the main features of the chart, correctly identifying China and the United States as the top producers and consumers, and noting the unique exception where Germany's consumption exceeds its production. An overview is present in the second paragraph, covering general extremes like China being the highest and Korea the lowest. However, there are minor data inaccuracies in the body paragraphs; for example, the student omits 'billion kWh' units or misrepresents figures (e.g., stating 'Russia's capability to produce electricity lies around 1057 kwh' but omitting the magnitude or grouping Japan incorrectly). Overall, all parts of the task are addressed, though data reporting contains some minor omissions and slight imprecisions in figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is arranged logically into four paragraphs: an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs detailing specific data points. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as 'Overall', 'while', 'for instance', and 'except'. However, paragraphing and referencing can be a bit mechanical at times, and logical progression within the third paragraph feels slightly fragmented when jumping between different countries. Referencing pronouns also occasionally creates slight ambiguity, such as 'it's consumption' and 'it's generating capability'. Nevertheless, the overarching structure remains coherent and easy to follow throughout the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, with appropriate topic-specific terms such as 'production', 'consumption', 'generating capability', and 'billion kWh'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary ('generating power', 'respectively'), but there are noticeable errors in word choice and phrasing, such as 'produced greater amount' (missing article), 'produced least amount' (missing article), and repeated typos with possessive 'it's' instead of the possessive determiner 'its'. Furthermore, terms like 'sililar' (similar) show minor spelling slips. The range is sufficient to communicate the main points, but vocabulary control prevents it from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including relative clauses ('whose electricity consumption was greater') and comparative structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding missing articles ('produced least amount', 'in India 871 kwh while in Canada...'), punctuation issues, and confusion between the contraction 'it's' and the possessive 'its' ('it's consumption', 'it's generating capability'). There is also a punctuation error in the opening sentence ('between top ten countries'). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur consistently enough to prevent the writing from achieving a higher band.

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