Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-16

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 bar chart illustrates comparison of a country's export earning of five product categories between 2015 and 2016, whereas the table demonstrates the change in values of product export earnings in percentage.

Overall, from the bar chart the earning by exporting petroleum products is the highest in both years and the lowest earning is found in exporting textiles. Although all other categories show increase in profit gems and jewellery products show a decrease in 2016. The highest profit was in exporting textiles products in 2016, 15.24% more than the previous year.

Petroleum products export gained the most money which was around 60 billion dollars in 2015 and increased 3% giving a rise up to 62 billion dollars in 2016. Engineered products surpassed the previous year's earning with a 8.5% increase in profit earning a liitle more tha 60 billion dollars in 2016. Gems and jewellery products had a decrease in profit of 5.18% with a earning of 40 billion dollars in 2016. Agricultural products showed very little increase of 0.81% in 2016 and gained 31 billion dollars. Textiles products derived the highest profit with an increase of 15.24% in 2016 and earned 31 billion dollars.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main pattern that petroleum products earned the most in both years and correctly note that gems and jewellery declined while the other categories rose. You also include several relevant figures and percentage changes. However, the overview is not fully accurate: textiles were the lowest category in 2015, but in 2016 they were level with agricultural products, rather than clearly the lowest. The statement that textiles had the “highest profit” also confuses the largest percentage increase with the highest export value; petroleum remained the top earner. Some reported values are approximate, but the key comparisons could be clearer, especially the substantial rise in textiles and the small change in agriculture. A more precise overview separating value from percentage growth would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph describing the individual categories. This makes the information easy to follow, and the contrast introduced by “Although” helps signal the main exception. The category-by-category sequence is also sensible. However, some connections between ideas are awkward or unclear. For example, “The highest profit was in exporting textiles products in 2016” follows a statement about percentage growth, so the reader may not know whether “highest” refers to growth or export value. The final paragraph also repeats the same pattern of category, change, and earnings without grouping the largest and smallest changes. Use clearer comparisons and references to make the progression less repetitive.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “export earnings,” “percentage,” “increase,” and “decrease,” and the meaning is generally understandable. However, some word choices and collocations are imprecise or repetitive. “Profit” is used several times where “export value” or “earnings” is more accurate, since the chart reports export values rather than profit. Phrases such as “earning by exporting” and “a earning” are also unnatural, while “liitle” is misspelled. The repeated use of “products” after category names adds little and sometimes makes the phrasing clumsy. Aim for a more controlled range of terms such as “revenue,” “rose,” “fell,” and “recorded,” while ensuring that each term accurately describes the data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including the overview sentence beginning “Although” and the longer descriptions of individual categories. Most of the intended meaning can be understood, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “the earning by exporting petroleum products is the highest” has an awkward singular construction, and “with a earning” needs the correct article. In “Textiles products derived the highest profit,” the noun phrase and sentence structure are not well controlled. There are also issues with articles and number agreement in phrases such as “a country's export earning” and “product export earnings.” Review article use, singular and plural forms, and sentence construction, then proofread punctuation and spacing to make the complex sentences more accurate.

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