Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-11

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 charts compare the figures for a particular country's exports in multiple categories in the years 2015 and 2016. The sectors include petroleum products, engineered goods, jewellery items, agricultural products, and textiles.

Overall, the country's economy performed well. All the fields showed year-on-year growth except the gems and jewellery sector. This sector declined by 5.1 percent. Textile sector exports grew the most, around 15 percent. While agriculture sector exports remained the same.

The country's income increased as compared to last year. The petroleum products sales jumped about 3%. The manufactured goods exports increased dramatically by 8%. The only field in which a decline was noticed was jewellery exports, which decreased by 5.18% to 31 billion dollars.

The total income from agricultural items remained almost similar. The most rapid year-on-year growth was shown by the textile sector. It jumped around 15 percent, and total exports reached $32 billion.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the main pattern that most categories rose while gems and jewellery fell, and you correctly highlight textiles as the fastest-growing category. However, the response only partially reports the chart: it gives few actual export values and does not compare the categories’ overall levels. There is also a significant data error: jewellery exports fell from about $43 billion to $41 billion, not to $31 billion; the latter figure is close to agricultural exports. Agriculture rose slightly to about $31.5 billion rather than remaining unchanged. The claim that the country’s economy “performed well” is broader than the chart supports. The response is also two words below the required minimum. Include a concise overview and accurate key figures to develop the summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details, and the final paragraph returns to textiles and agriculture. However, progression is weakened by repetition: textile growth is mentioned in both the overview and conclusion, while the decline in jewellery is repeated without adding a new comparison. Connections between points are sometimes unclear, particularly “While agriculture sector exports remained the same,” which is left as a fragment rather than integrated into the surrounding sentence. The paragraphing is serviceable, but the details would be easier to follow if grouped by notable increases, the decline, and the relatively stable categories. Use linking phrases to show contrasts and avoid restating the same feature.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “exports,” “year-on-year growth,” “declined,” and “increased dramatically,” so the main trends are generally understandable. There are also attempts at more specific phrasing, such as “the most rapid year-on-year growth.” Some choices are imprecise or unnatural for describing chart data: “the country’s economy performed well” makes a broad judgement, and “petroleum products sales jumped” is less suitable than describing export values. “Jewellery items” and “manufactured goods” also blur the chart’s exact categories. Aim for precise terms such as “export earnings,” “value,” and the category labels used in the visual. This would make the report more accurate and appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, and most of the meaning remains clear. For example, “All the fields showed year-on-year growth except the gems and jewellery sector” is a clear comparison, while “While agriculture sector exports remained the same” is a dependent clause presented as a sentence fragment. There are some issues with articles and sentence construction, as in “Textile sector exports grew the most” and “While agriculture sector exports,” where “the” is needed before the sector name. The phrase “The only field in which a decline was noticed was jewellery exports” is grammatically understandable but awkwardly structured. Continue using varied structures, while checking that subordinate clauses are attached to a main clause and that articles are used consistently.

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