Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-11

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 diagram illustrates the production and usage of electricity of ten most upper nations for the year 2014. Both the production and usage of electrical power measured in billion kWh.

Overall, China account for the most for both the production and consumption. Conversely, Korea represents the least in both. The Americans ranked top second in both production and usage.

Similarly, Chinese surpassed the Americans by 1299 billion Kwh in production and by 1456 billion kWh in consumption. Whereas, Korea recorded 485.1 and 449.5 billion kWh in generation and usage respectively. Whereas, Germany ranked 9 accounted for 526.6 and 582.5 billion kWh in yield and usage respectively.

Whereas, Russian ranked top 3 positions in both yielding 1057 and 1038 billion kWh in production and consumption respectively. In contrast, Brazilians ranked top 8 in production accounted for 530.7 billion kWh and Germany ranked top 6 position in consumption accounted for 582.5 billion kWh. Also, India ranked top 5 position while, Canada held at 6th floor.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main extremes accurately: China leads both measures, Korea has the lowest figures, and the United States is second. Several comparisons are also supported by the chart, including the China–US differences and Germany’s higher consumption than production. However, the overview is limited, and some details are inaccurate or unclear. Germany is described as ranking sixth in consumption, although it is ninth in the chart’s country ranking; Canada is sixth. The final sentence mentions India and Canada without reporting their figures or making a clear comparison. Develop the overview by noting the large gap between the top two countries and the much lower figures for the remaining nations, then select and report comparisons precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has separate paragraphs and attempts to group an overview before supporting details, so there is some organisation. However, progression is difficult to follow because the body moves between countries without a clear comparison pattern. Repeated openings such as “Whereas” and “Similarly” do not always show the relationship between the information that follows; “Whereas” is also used to begin standalone statements. The final paragraph shifts from Russia to Brazil, Germany, India and Canada, leaving the comparison unfinished. Organise the body in a consistent way—for example, compare the leading countries first, then the lower-producing countries—and use linking expressions only when their logical relationship is clear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “production,” “consumption,” “generation” and “billion kWh,” and you attempt variation rather than repeating the same terms throughout. However, several choices are unnatural or imprecise for describing a chart. “Ten most upper nations” and “top 3 positions” are not idiomatic, while “6th floor” is an incorrect expression for a ranking. “Yield” and “usage” are understandable but less precise than the chart’s labels in this context. These choices sometimes make the intended meaning harder to follow. Prefer standard collocations such as “the ten leading countries,” “ranked third,” and “electricity consumption,” and use varied wording only when it remains accurate and natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and more complex comparisons, including “China surpassed the Americans…” and “Whereas, Brazil…”. However, sentence control is inconsistent, and several errors affect clarity. The opening sentence lacks an article and uses an awkward noun phrase; “Both the production and usage of electrical power measured…” is a sentence fragment because it has no finite verb. Subject–verb agreement is also faulty in “China account” and “Korea represents” when referring to the countries’ figures. Some clauses beginning with “Whereas” are left as standalone sentences rather than connected to a main clause. Practise complete sentence patterns, accurate agreement, and punctuation around contrast clauses; these will make your comparisons easier to understand.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.