Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-12

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 illustrates the exports value of one country in various categories during 2015 and 2016. Whereas the table explains the change in ratio of exports in 2016 when compared with 2015.

Overall, the most noticeable feature in graph shows Petroleum products at its peak which is around 60 billion and least is Textiles which shows around 30 billion in 2015 and 2016. However, the table shows the maximum value has been increased to 15.24% in Textiles and minimum in Agricultural products which is around 30 billion in same years.

In detail, the value of export products showed highest in Petroleum products which was around 60 billion in 2015 and 2016. While, Engineered goods also showed similiar which was around 60 billion in 2016 and 55 billion in 2015 respectively.

Subsequently, Gems and jewellery reduced to 5.18% as showed in table in 2015 and 2016. Furthermore, Agricultural products and Engineered goods showed improvement in 2015 and 2016 by 0.81% and 8.5% individually.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the subject and include an overview, noting that petroleum products are the leading category and textiles have the largest percentage increase. You also report several relevant figures, including the 5.18% fall in gems and jewellery and the increases for agricultural products and engineered goods. However, the overview contains a significant misreading: textiles are not the lowest category in both years, since agricultural products were about $31 billion in 2015 and $31.5 billion in 2016, while textiles rose from about $26 billion to $31.5 billion. The statement that agricultural products are the minimum confuses their export value with their percentage change. The account also omits the fall in gems’ export value and gives limited comparison across categories. Select the main trends accurately and distinguish values from percentage changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and two detail paragraphs. This gives the reader a basic route through the information, and transitions such as “Overall,” “In detail” and “Furthermore” signal stages in the account. However, progression is uneven: the second paragraph mixes export values with percentage changes, and the final paragraph returns to categories without a clear organising principle. Some links are mechanical or unclear, particularly “Subsequently” and “as showed in table in 2015 and 2016,” which makes the relationship between the figures difficult to follow. Group the categories by trend—for example, rising values, falling values and the largest percentage changes—and use references that make clear whether you mean export value or percentage change.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “exports,” “categories,” “increased,” “reduced” and “improvement,” and the reader can generally understand the comparisons you intend. There are also attempts at more formal reporting language, such as “most noticeable feature” and “respectively.” However, several choices are imprecise or unnatural: “change in ratio” does not describe the table’s percentage change, “showed highest” is an awkward collocation, and “similiar” is misspelled. Repetition of “showed” and “around” also limits precision. Use terms such as “export earnings,” “percentage change,” “stood at” and “rose/fell by” consistently, and check spelling and collocations when editing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “Whereas” and a relative clause in “which was around 60 billion.” Meaning is usually recoverable, but some sentence structures and punctuation are inaccurate. “Whereas the table explains…” is a dependent clause presented as a complete sentence, while “While, Engineered goods…” has an unnecessary comma and is also incomplete. There are also errors in article use and sentence construction in “the most noticeable feature in graph shows” and “the value of export products showed highest.” Aim to make each sentence grammatically complete, and practise combining comparisons into controlled clauses, for example: “Petroleum earnings stood at about $61 billion in 2015 and $63 billion in 2016.”

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