Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-19
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 chart depicts the exported good earnings across five categories between two years 2015 and 2016. The table illustrates the percentage-wise exports which made in 2016 on the basis of changes in each category as campared to 2015.
Overall, petroleum products illustrated the predominantly significant improvement, meanwhile textiles had low percentages acoss the all categories.
To begin with, petroleum products stood at 61 billion dollars in 2015 and showed a little rise up to 63 million dollars in 2016. Furthermore, the percentage had only 3% changed in values during this time.
Secondly, engineered goods accounted for 56 billion dollars in 2015 and it experienced gradually surge in 2016 amounted to 62 million dollars. In addition, changed in values recorded only 8.5% rise.
Thirdly, gems and jewellery stayed at 41% to 42% in both years and had tumbled change only 5.18% in values.
Finally, textiles industry had 30 billion dollars exports in 2015 and by 2016, it surged upto 32 million dollars with a significant rise in change in a value which was 15.24%.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The candidate attempts to cover all parts of the task by reporting data from both the chart and the table, but there are several noticeable inaccuracies and misreadings of the data. For instance, petroleum products are stated as 61 billion dollars in 2015 and rising to 63 million dollars, confusing billions with millions, and stating textiles surged up to 32 million dollars rather than billions. Furthermore, the figures for engineered goods and gems and jewellery contain inaccurate data reading (e.g., stating gems and jewellery stayed at 41% to 42%). The overview is somewhat confused, claiming textiles had low percentages across all categories despite actually having the highest percentage increase (15.24%). Consequently, the response achieves a Band 5.5 for task achievement due to partial and inaccurate reporting of data points.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is organised into discernible paragraphs, following an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for individual categories. Cohesive devices are used to signal progression, such as 'To begin with', 'Secondly', and 'Finally'. However, referencing and logical development are sometimes faulty, particularly in the overview where the general trends are misstated or contradictory. Paragraphing is present and generally appropriate for a Task 1 response, but the mechanical transitions and minor structural issues place this response firmly in the Band 6 category, as the overall progression is coherent despite the flawed data points.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'predominantly significant', 'gradually surge', and 'tumbled change'. However, there are notable lexical errors and imprecise collocations, such as 'exported good earnings', 'percentage-wise exports which made', and confusing 'billion' with 'million'. Spelling is generally correct, but word choice is occasionally awkward or incorrect (e.g., 'textiles industry had 30 billion dollars exports'). These errors do not completely impede communication but restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting structures like relative clauses ('exports which made in 2016') and adverbial phrases. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several errors in tense, preposition use, and voice, such as 'changes in each category as campared to 2015', 'the percentage had only 3% changed in values', and 'engineered goods accounted for... and it experienced gradually surge'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical slips are frequent enough to detract from clarity. This performance aligns with Band 5.5 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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