Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-09

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 bar chart compares the export earning from five different sectors during 2015 and 2016. While table illustrates the proportion category of export product in 2016 comparsion with 2015.

Overall, petroleum products and engineered goods respresented the highest earning. Other showed considerably lowest margin. In contrast, Textile has the largest values over the timeline and Petroleum products is least.

In terms of export earning, petroleum products and engineered goods were the top two categories in both years. Petroleum goods earned around 60 billions dollar in 2015 and slightly higher in 2016. While engineered goods increased from approximetely 57 billions in 2015 to over 60 billion in 2016. Gems and jewellery, agriculture products and textile had the lowest earning, with gems and jewellery a declined in value with approximetely 42 billions in 2015 to 40 billions in 2016. Textile showed a significant increase from 22 billions in 2015 to over 31 billion in 2016. Whereas agricultural products remain relatively stable over the period.

Textile had the highest percentage increased at 15.24%, followed by the engineered goods 8.5%. Petroleum products and agriculture products also grew by 3% and -.81%. Gems and jewellery constitued decrease to 5.18%

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main categories and report several relevant comparisons, including petroleum and engineered goods as the leading earners and textiles as having the largest percentage rise. However, the overview contains a major contradiction: it says textiles had the largest values and petroleum the least, whereas petroleum was highest and textiles lowest in 2015, rising to about the same level as agriculture in 2016. Some figures are also inaccurate: textiles began at about $26 billion, not $22 billion, and the agricultural increase was 0.81%, not a negative change. The decline in gems is broadly captured, but its direction should be stated clearly. A more accurate overview and careful checking of the chart against the table would make the key features clearer and more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph describing export values, and a final paragraph on percentage changes. This gives the reader a generally coherent route through the information. However, the overview’s claim that textiles had the largest values conflicts with the later description, and the contrast marker “In contrast” does not clarify the intended comparison. Some links are also awkward or incomplete, such as “While engineered goods increased…” and “Whereas agricultural products remain…”, which are not integrated smoothly with the surrounding sentences. Grouping the main increases together and the one decline separately, while using clear comparisons, would improve progression and cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “export earning,” “percentage increased,” “declined in value,” and “relatively stable,” so the topic is generally understandable. There is some attempt at more specific language, such as “significant increase.” However, several word-choice and collocation errors make parts less precise: “highest earning” and “lowest margin” do not accurately describe the values, while “constituted decrease to 5.18%” is unclear. Spelling and word-form slips such as “comparsion,” “respresented,” and “approximetely” are noticeable. Aim for standard expressions such as “export revenue,” “the highest value,” and “fell by 5.18%,” and check spelling and singular/plural forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including comparisons across years and clauses introduced by “while” and “whereas.” The meaning is usually recoverable, but some sentence structures are incomplete or faulty. For example, “While table illustrates…” lacks an article and a complete main clause, and “While engineered goods increased…” is also a dependent clause standing alone. There are errors in agreement and tense, as in “Textile has” and “agricultural products remain,” alongside missing articles and inconsistent plural forms in “60 billions dollar.” Use complete sentences, maintain past tense when describing the data, and check articles, agreement, and number forms. These corrections would make the comparisons easier to follow.

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