Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-13

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 and table indicate the value of one country's exports in different categories during 2015 and 2016.

Overall, it is clear that from export earnings perspective petroleum products and Engineered goods has majority of the contribution and Agriculture and textiles has minor contributions. While for product category textiles and engineered goos has most percent change in values and agricultral and petroleum products has lowest change rate in values.

As far as the concern of Export earnings petroleum based products had most sales at around 61 billions and 64 billions from [redacted phone].Secondly the amount of export money earned through Engineered good in [redacted phone] was approximately 57 billlions and 62 billions. Earnings from Gems and jewellery was estimated at 44 billion and 41 billions during [redacted phone]. While Agricultural products was second lowest in amount during [redacted phone] at only 43 billions, 41 billions respectively textiles being the lowest of all at 26 and 32 billions in monetary value.

Moving towards the percentage changes in values during [redacted phone] textiles was at it's peak at 15.24% followed by Engineered goods and Gems and jewellery at 8.5%, 5.18%. The least amount of changes in values came from two sectors in [redacted phone] which was petroleum and Agricultural products at only 3%, 0.81% only.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main categories and report several key figures, including textiles’ strong rise and the decline in gems and jewellery. The overview also recognises petroleum and engineered goods as the largest export earners. However, some comparisons are inaccurate or unclear: agricultural products were about $31 billion in both years, not $43 billion and $41 billion, and petroleum reached about $63 billion in 2016 rather than $64 billion. The overview’s claim that agriculture and textiles made minor contributions is also too broad, since textiles rose to roughly the same value as agriculture in 2016. To strengthen the response, check each figure against the chart and make the overview distinguish the categories’ different trends more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph on export values and a final paragraph on percentage changes. This gives the reader a generally coherent route through the information, and phrases such as “Overall” and “Moving towards” signal shifts in focus. However, some links are mechanical, and the long value paragraph combines several comparisons without consistently grouping them by trend or size. The sentence beginning “While Agricultural products…” is especially difficult to follow because the figures and category ranking are not clearly connected. Use clearer topic sentences and group the largest earners, declining category and smaller categories in a deliberate order; ensure each sentence makes its comparison explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “export earnings,” “percentage changes,” “estimated” and “followed by,” so the main subject is usually clear. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “most sales” for export value, “from export earnings perspective,” and “least amount of changes.” There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “Engineered goos,” “agricultral” and “billlions,” which reduce precision. Aim for standard chart language and check spelling carefully. For example, describe categories as having the “highest export values” or “largest increases,” rather than using sales or amount of changes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, and the overall meaning can usually be followed. However, some errors in agreement, articles, plurals and sentence construction remain. For example, “petroleum products and Engineered goods has” should use a plural verb, while “Agriculture and textiles has minor contributions” has the same agreement problem. The phrase “at around 61 billions and 64 billions from 2015-2016” also has an awkward number construction and missing punctuation between sentences. Several sentences beginning with “While” are fragments or are not joined clearly to a main clause. Practise complete comparisons with accurate subject–verb agreement, and use full stops to separate ideas.

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