Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-09-28
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 given charts illustrate five different items exports of one country from 2015 to 2016. The proportion in the table revealed changes of export in 2016 as compared with 2015.
Overall, petroleum products and engineering goods remain their highest rank of earnings through the period, followed by Germ and jewelery, while low income had recorded for both agricultural products and Textiles.
Petroleum products and engineering goods earnings ratio is slightly increased to above 60 in 2016 is compared with 2015, at approximately 60 and 57 respectively. In contrast, germs and jewelery show a considerable decrease in income in 2016, at reduced from 42 billion dollars to 40 billion dollars, while textile reveald significantly increases from 25 to 32.
Textiles show the highest percentage of benefits in overall items, at approximately 15.24% is compared to 2015, followed by engineering goods, is earnings percentage is 8.5%, while low earning proportion in one year is allocated for both petroleum and Agricultural products, at 3% and 0.81% respectively. Only germs and jewelery show a considerable decrease of 5.18 in profits.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of both the bar chart and the table, making relevant comparisons across categories. The overview correctly identifies that petroleum products and engineering goods had the highest earnings, while agricultural products and textiles were lower. Data points are cited with reasonable accuracy (e.g., petroleum products starting around 61 in 2015 and rising to 63 in 2016). However, there are minor confusions in specific figures, such as stating textiles increased 'from 25 to 32' when the chart shows 26 to 31.5, and some minor typographical errors in category names ('Germ and jewelery'). Despite these minor inaccuracies, the key trends and comparisons are successfully covered, fitting the Band 6 descriptor well.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is structured into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs, providing a coherent overall arrangement. Logical progression is generally maintained as the student moves from general rankings to specific values and percentage changes. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas (e.g., 'Overall', 'In contrast', 'while'), though some referencing is slightly clunky or awkward (e.g., 'is earnings percentage is 8.5%'). Paragraphing is used sufficiently to separate the overview from detailed body points, but mechanical transitions and occasional imprecise cohesive ties hold the score at Band 6.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as 'proportion', 'considerable decrease', and 'significantly increases'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'Germ and jewelery' instead of 'Gems and jewellery', 'reveald', 'benefits' instead of 'growth' or 'increase', and 'low income' instead of 'lower earnings'. These inaccuracies do not entirely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5, as vocabulary control lacks precision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
A mix of simple and complex sentence structures is attempted, such as 'The given charts illustrate...' and 'while textile reveald significantly increases...'. However, grammatical control is inconsistent, featuring frequent errors such as subject-verb agreement issues ('petroleum products and engineering goods earnings ratio is slightly increased'), awkward prepositional use ('is compared with'), and tense inconsistencies ('remain their highest rank'). While these errors rarely completely impede understanding, they cause noticeable difficulty and place the response firmly in the Band 5 category.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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