Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-16

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 represents the production and consumption of electricity in the top ten countries of the world. Black represents production, while grey represents the consumption of electricity. China being the top one country in both producing and utilizing the electric power while United States being the second in the race. The least producing and consuming country is the Republic of Korea on the chart.

China produces 5,398 billion kWh of electricity, with the USA being second, with 4,099 billion kWh of electricity produced. Russia afterwards has 1,057 billion kWh, Japan with 936.2 billion kWh, India in fifth with 871 billion kWh, followed by Canada with 618.9 billion kWh, afterwards France with 561.2 billion kWh, Brazil ranked 8th with 530.7, Germany comes after with 526.6, and Korea last with 485.1 billion kWh being produced.

The electricity is consumed mostly by China, with 5,322 billion kWh; then the USA has 3,866, followed by Russia with 1,038 billion kWh, Japan with 856.7, India with 698.8, Canada with 499.9 while France with 462.9, Brazil on 8th rank with 455.8, Germany being 9th with 582.5 and at last on number ten is Korea with 449.5 billion kWh.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the chart’s subject and report many figures accurately, including China’s production and consumption and the production ranking from China to Korea. However, the response is mainly a list of country-by-country values rather than a clear summary of the most significant features. The overview says China leads and Korea is lowest, but it misses the striking gap between the top two countries and the much lower figures for the remaining countries. There is also a factual inconsistency: Germany is described as ninth in consumption, yet its 582.5 billion kWh is higher than the figures for Canada, France, Brazil and Korea. Select key comparisons and make the overview more complete and accurate.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a generally understandable order: it introduces the chart, gives an overview, and then reports production followed by consumption. This makes the information easy to locate. However, the two data paragraphs read as long sequences of figures, with repeated transitions such as “followed by,” “afterwards” and “with.” The overview is also attached to the introduction rather than clearly separated, and the final consumption figures do not consistently follow the stated ranking. Grouping the leading countries together and then summarising the lower values would create clearer progression. Use linking phrases to show comparisons, not simply to move from one country to the next.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for describing the chart, including “production,” “consumption,” “ranked,” and “followed by,” and the meaning is generally clear. There are also attempts at variation, such as “utilizing the electric power” and “in the race,” but these are not natural choices for a formal data report. “Top one country” and “least producing and consuming country” are also awkward or imprecise. Prefer standard chart language such as “ranked first,” “generated,” and “had the lowest figures.” Take care to use units consistently: for example, the USA’s consumption is given as “3,866” without repeating “billion kWh.” More precise collocations would make the report sound more academic.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response communicates the main information, but sentence control is uneven. The overview contains fragments: “China being the top one country…” and “while United States being the second…” lack a finite verb. The long production and consumption sentences rely heavily on comma-linked lists, which makes their structure difficult to manage. There are some effective simple clauses, such as “China produces 5,398 billion kWh of electricity,” but a wider range of accurately controlled sentence patterns is needed. Check articles and sentence boundaries, for example, “the United States” and “Germany ranks ninth for production, while its consumption is…” Clearer punctuation and complete clauses would improve accuracy and readability.

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