Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-05

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 provided table is about the numbers of visitors to Ashdown Museum during the year before and the year after it was refurbished.

During the year before the refurbishment, 74,000 people visited the museum. About 40 percent of the people among them were dissatisfied with their visit and 10 percent of the visitors were very dissatisfied. Very few people, about 15 percent people were very satisfied and 10 percent of them were satisfied. So it is evidenant that most of the visitors were not happy with the visit before the refurbishment occured.

However, during the year after the refurbishment we can clearly notice a different scenerio. 15 percent of the visitors were dissatisfied and 5 percent visitors were very dissatisfied with the visit. About 35 percent people were actually very satisfied with the visit and 40 percent of them were satisfied.

From the abpve discusssion we can see that the number of people satisfied with the visit increased to a great extent after the refurbishment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response falls just short of the minimum length requirement, containing 147 words rather than the required 150. Regarding content, the report addresses the task only partially. While you correctly mention the visitor numbers for both years and attempt to describe the survey results, there are noticeable inaccuracies in reading the data. For instance, you state that about 45 percent of visitors were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied before refurbishment, whereas the chart shows a combined total of 50 percent (40 plus 10). Similarly, the figures for very satisfied and satisfied before the refurbishment are miscalculated in your text. To reach a higher band, it is essential to accurately report data from the visual prompts and ensure the word count requirement is fully met without relying on copied prompt material.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response shows some basic organization with clear paragraph breaks separating the introduction, body details for both periods, and a concluding sentence. However, there is no clear overall progression that effectively synthesizes or compares the data between the two years beyond isolated blocks of text. Cohesive devices are rather basic and repetitive, such as the frequent reliance on 'During the year...' and 'about'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the mechanical transitions limit the flow of the writing. To improve coherence and cohesion towards the next band, you should use a wider variety of cohesive markers to connect ideas smoothly and structure your comparisons to show a logical progression throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, but it remains limited and contains noticeable errors. There are spelling mistakes, such as 'evidenant' instead of 'evident' and 'scenerio' instead of 'scenario', as well as typographical errors like 'abpve' and 'discusssion'. Word choice is also occasionally imprecise when reporting statistics. To lift your lexical resource to a higher band, you should incorporate a wider range of less common vocabulary relating to data trends and museum features, while carefully checking your spelling and word forms to ensure clear communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

Your writing displays a limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple and straightforward statements. When you attempt more complex constructions or numerical descriptions, frequent grammatical errors occur, such as awkward phrasing in 'About 15 percent people were very satisfied' (omitting prepositions) and 'dissatisfied and 5 percent visitors were very dissatisfied'. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical slips in articles, word order, and prepositions inside patterns cause some difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher band, you need to demonstrate a greater variety of complex sentence forms with improved accuracy in grammar and agreement.

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.