Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 14 · 2026-10-22

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 illustrates export earnings of one country in five categories in 2015 and 2016.The table demonstrates the proportion of change in each figures of exports from 2016 in compared to 2015.

Overall,exports earnings in 2016 of petroleum,engineered goods,agricultural products and textiles increase.However export percentage earned from gems and jewellery declined.

Looking at the bar chart,petroleum based products and engineered goods rose its export earnings.From 60 billions dollars in 2015 petroleum incease to 3% of its total exports,additionally engeneered goods climed its increase to 8.5% in year 2016.Moreover Textiles has a massive increase to 15.24% in year 2016 while agrecultural products rise to 0.81%.

However,gems and jewelry drop drown to 5.18%.On year 2015 there were 42 billion dollars of export earnings from gems and jewelry but it declined after one year which was notable on the table.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main direction of change: four categories rose, while gems and jewellery fell, and you include several figures from the table. However, the account is only partly complete and some key comparisons are unclear. For example, “petroleum increase to 3%” confuses the percentage change with the export value; the chart shows earnings rising from about $61 billion to $63 billion. The engineered-goods figures are also not reported, and the overview does not identify petroleum as the highest-earning category or textiles as the fastest-growing. The response is also 12 words below the required minimum, which limits the opportunity to report and compare the data fully. Develop the overview and distinguish clearly between dollar values and percentage changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs describing the figures. This gives the reader a generally coherent route through the information, and transitions such as “Overall,” “Moreover,” and “However” help signal relationships. To make the progression clearer, group the categories by their trends and compare their actual earnings as well as their percentage changes. Some links are mechanical or unclear: “additionally” introduces a figure without explaining its relationship to the previous one, while “which was notable on the table” does not clearly refer to a specific point. Use paragraphing and linking phrases to show comparisons, rather than listing changes one after another.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “export earnings,” “categories,” “declined,” and “percentage,” so the topic is generally clear. There is also some attempt at more descriptive language, such as “massive increase.” However, the range is limited and several inaccurate word choices or spelling errors reduce precision: “proportion of change” is less suitable than “percentage change,” and “drop drown” does not communicate the intended decline naturally. Errors such as “incease,” “engeneered,” and “agrecultural” are noticeable. Aim for accurate, conventional chart language and avoid overstating a change as “massive” when a precise comparison would be more informative. Careful proofreading will also improve the clarity of your vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast with “However” and a relative clause in the final sentence. Nevertheless, grammatical control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make relationships between figures difficult to follow. For example, “petroleum based products and engineered goods rose its export earnings” has a subject–verb agreement problem, while “in 2016 of petroleum” and “in compared to 2015” show faulty sentence patterns. Missing spaces after full stops and commas also affect punctuation. Practise forming clear comparison sentences, for example, “Petroleum earnings rose from about $61 billion in 2015 to $63 billion in 2016.” Check agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries before submitting.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.