Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-17
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 5.0)
The bar graph demonstrates the proportion of various goods sold by the country in the 2015 and 2016.
Overall, petroleum and engineered goods were sold in a higher proportion in later year, while textiles products are exported less. Gems and jewellery are the only one that are less sold in following year as comparative to its previous sales.
In 2015, petroleum products have the highest figures exported at exactly 60%, while in 2016, around 62% were sold. Engineered goods were sold approximately 57% in 2015 and slightly more than 60% in 2016, making it the second most sold items. Third spot was secured by gems and jewellery which accounted for 42% in 2015 and exactly 40% in 2016. It was the only category that decreased from it's previous year sales.
The least among all categories were agricultural products and textiles. Farming products acquired slightly more than 30% and approximately 32% in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Textiles on the other hand reported it's figures around 27% in 2015. In contrast, it showed increased sales in 2016, at about 32%.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5
The student attempts to summarise the main features of the charts, but there is a major factual misunderstanding throughout the response: the student interprets the export values in billions of dollars as percentages (e.g., stating petroleum products were at 'exactly 60%' and gems and jewellery at '42%'). While an overview is provided, the data reporting is inaccurate because of this metric confusion, and several figures are misread or misattributed. For instance, the student claims textiles products are exported less, whereas the data shows an increase from 26 to 31.5 billion dollars and a 15.24% rise. Consequently, the response only partially covers the requirements of the task due to significant data misinterpretation.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is structured into four paragraphs, including an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs covering specific categories. There is a basic attempt to organise information logically and make comparisons, such as grouping agricultural products and textiles together. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or inaccurate (e.g., 'Third spot was secured by', 'Textiles on the other hand reported it's figures'), and referencing is occasionally unclear. Paragraphing is present and follows a standard report layout, but overall cohesion is limited by awkward transitions.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student uses an adequate vocabulary range to discuss economic and chart-related topics, attempting terms such as 'proportion', 'category', 'accounted for', and 'decreased'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, most notably treating billions of dollars as percentages. Other errors include 'less sold' instead of 'sold in lower quantities', 'its previous year sales' with a misuse of the apostrophe, and repetitive use of basic verbs like 'sold'. These limitations cause some confusion for the reader.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'While petroleum and engineered goods were sold in a higher proportion in later year...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and missing articles, such as 'in later year' instead of 'in the later year', 'gems and jewellery are the only one that are' (subject-verb agreement errors), and 'it's figures' (misuse of 'it's' instead of 'its'). While these errors do not completely obscure the intended meaning, they occur frequently and lower the grammatical accuracy of the text.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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