Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-13
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The chart below shows the value of one country’s exports in various categories during 2015 and 2016. The table shows the percentage change in each category of exports in 2016 compared with 2015.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
The graph depicts the revenue of export in five products of one country in 2001 and 2022 measured by billion dollars, while the table compares the change of ratio between 2 years.
Overall, the number of earnings between 2021 and 2022 were slighlty different and petroleum was the top product which was sold overseas. Moreover, only gems and jewellery had been reduced change from the previous year.
Regarding the bar chart, petroleum and engineered goods consistently were the dominant values of exports for two years. The earnings from these products reached over 50 billion dollars. In contrast, agricultural products and textiles only collected around 30 billion dollars.
Turning to the information provided on the table, all merchandise had increased revenue except gems and jewellery, which decreased insignificantly. The sharp growth of in come was textile with 15,24 %. However, goods related to agriculture rose less than 1% from 2021 to 2022.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student attempts to address the prompt by summarising the main features of the export data and table. However, there are significant inaccuracies in the interpretation of the source data, notably misidentifying the years as 2001 and 2022 instead of 2015 and 2016 as stated in the prompt. Despite this chronological error, an overview is provided, and key categories such as petroleum and engineered goods are identified as dominant values. Comparisons are made between categories, and the percentage changes are partially reported, though the detail remains somewhat limited. The response fulfills the basic requirements of summarising visual data, but the factual discrepancies regarding the timeframe prevent it from reaching a higher band score under Task Achievement.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is structured into four distinct paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, followed by an overall summary, a body paragraph dedicated to the chart, and a final body paragraph discussing the table. Logical connectors are utilised to guide the reader through the text, such as 'Overall', 'Regarding the bar chart', 'In contrast', and 'Turning to the information provided on the table'. However, cohesion can feel slightly mechanical, and referencing occasionally falters, such as the ambiguous phrase 'the number of earnings'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different aspects of the visual data, maintaining a coherent overall arrangement throughout the text.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'consistently', 'dominant', and 'insignificantly'. However, there are notable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'revenue of export', 'change of ratio', and 'reduced change'. Additionally, spelling and word formation errors appear, such as 'slighlty' instead of 'slightly' and 'in come' instead of 'income'. While these vocabulary errors and typos do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score to the Band 5.5-6.0 range, reflecting a mix of appropriate terms and noticeable inaccuracies.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The text displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in grammatical structures. Examples of complex structures include 'The graph depicts the revenue... while the table compares...' and 'only gems and jewellery had been reduced change...'. However, numerous grammatical errors are present throughout the response. Notable issues include subject-verb agreement errors ('the number of earnings... were'), awkward passive voice usage ('had been reduced change'), and punctuation or spacing errors in numbers ('15,24 %'). Although these errors do not severely impede the overall comprehension of the report, their frequency prevents the grammar score from reaching higher bands.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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