Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-18

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The table below shows the numbers of visitors to Ashdown Museum during the year before and the year after it was refurbished. The charts show the result of surveys asking visitors how satisfied they were with their visit, during the same two periods.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The grid below represents the number of visitors to Ashdown Museum including the previous year and the next one after it was refurbished. The illustration depicts the results of surveys asking visitors how satisfied they were with their visit, during the same two periods. Overall, total number of visitors increased, good reduction in dissastified can be seen along with noticable increase in very satisfied visitors, other categories showed change as well except no response.

Before refurbishment, Highest category was dissatisfied which went down from 40% to 15%after refurbishment . Then the second highest was satisfied which increased from 30% to 40% . The third highest was very satisfied which showed a dramatic change by getting increased from 15% to 40% after refurbishment.

Lowest category was no response category which stood at 5% even after refurbishment. However the second lowest category which was very dissastified visitors fall down from 10% to 5% platueing at the same level as no response after refurbishment.

Finally, there is a good increase in satisfaction of people which can be observed clearly while the dissastisfaction of people getting decreased.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main trends and making relevant comparisons between the two periods. The overview covers the key changes well, noting the rise in visitor numbers and the shifts in satisfaction levels. Data points are generally cited accurately, such as the increase in total visitors from 74,000 to 92,000 (though the exact figure of 74,000 was omitted, the visitor increase trend is captured) and the percentage changes in satisfaction categories like dissatisfied dropping from 40% to 15%. However, there is some confusion in the second paragraph regarding which category was highest before refurbishment, as the student states 'Highest category was dissatisfied which went down from 40% to 15%', when dissatisfied was actually 40% (the largest segment). Despite minor confusion in sequencing, the overall response covers the visual data well, earning a solid Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is arranged coherently with a clear overall progression from the introduction to the body paragraphs and final summary. Paragraphing is used, though the structure is slightly fragmented with short paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used to signal shifts and comparisons, such as 'Before refurbishment', 'However', and 'Finally'. However, referencing and transitions are at times mechanical or repetitive, and some sentences lack smooth logical links. For instance, the transition between discussing the categories feels abrupt. Paragraphing could also be more balanced to group related ideas together. Overall, the organizational structure meets the requirements for a Band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to data reporting such as 'illustration', 'depicts', 'category', and 'proportion'. There are several attempts to use less common vocabulary like 'dramatic change' and 'platueing' (spelled incorrectly as 'platueing'), but word choice and spelling inaccuracies are present, including 'dissastified', 'dissasthesised', and 'noticable'. Collocations are occasionally awkward, such as 'getting increased' instead of 'increasing'. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they restrict the lexical score to a Band 6 due to noticeable spelling and morphological slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using relative clauses and introductory dependent clauses. However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several structural errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'number of visitors to Ashdown Museum including the previous year and the next one after it was refurbished', 'getting increased from 15% to 40%', and 'visitors fall down from 10% to 5%'. Punctuation and capitalization errors also occur, such as a missing space before 'after refurbishment' and lowercase starts in places. Because the errors occur frequently enough to occasionally distract the reader, the grammar performance aligns with Band 5.5.

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.