Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-12
IELTS Writing Task 1 question
The graph below shows average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per person in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and Portugal between 1967 and 2007.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Student answer (Band 5.5)
This graph shows the average carbon dioxide emissions per person in the united kingdom, sweden, italy and portugal between 1967 and 2007.
The average carbon dioxide emissions per person from the united kingdom, sweden, italy and potugal were 11, 9, 5 and 1 tones respectively in 1967 but there is a major change in 2007, the average carbon dioxide emissions per person from the united kingdom, sweden, italy and portugal were 9, 5, 7, and 5 tones respectively.
The average carbon dioxide emissions per person were decreasing continuously from 1967 to 2007 in united kingdom and sweden but on the other hand, the average carbon dioxide emissions per peron were increasing continuously from 1967 to 2007 in italy and portugal.
Overall, it can be concluded that emissions in the four countries became noticeably more similar by the end of the period, as the UK and Sweden's levels fell while Italy and Portugal's rose, narrowing the gap between the highest and lowest emitters.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response successfully addresses the task by summarising the main features of the graph regarding carbon dioxide emissions between 1967 and 2007. You identify initial figures and end figures for all four countries, such as noting that the UK and Sweden started at 11 and 9 tonnes respectively, and you correctly point out the converging trend towards the end of the period. However, there are some generalisations and inaccuracies in your description of trends; for instance, emissions in the UK and Sweden fluctuated or peaked before falling rather than decreasing continuously, and Italy and Portugal did not increase continuously across the entire forty-year timeframe. Despite these minor discrepancies in data interpretation, all parts of the prompt are covered, earning a solid Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression from an introduction to body paragraphs detailing specific data points and trends, concluding with an effective summary statement. You make use of cohesive devices to link ideas, such as 'respectively', 'but on the other hand', and 'overall, it can be concluded'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes mechanical, and your second paragraph relies heavily on a repetitive, list-like structure ('the average carbon dioxide emissions per person from the united kingdom, sweden, italy and portugal were...'). Paragraphing is generally appropriate, separating the introduction, the detailed breakdown, the overall trends, and the final summary, though some paragraphs are quite short. These limitations place this aspect of your writing firmly at Band 6.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
Your lexical range is adequate for the task, successfully incorporating topic-specific vocabulary such as 'average carbon dioxide emissions per person' and 'emissions'. However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors that detract from the quality of the response. For example, 'united kingdom', 'sweden', 'italy', and 'portugal' are not capitalised, 'potugal' is misspelled, and 'tones' is used instead of the correct unit 'tonnes'. Furthermore, vocabulary lacks variety, with the phrase 'average carbon dioxide emissions per person' repeated multiple times. While these errors do not impede communication, they restrict your score to a Band 5.5, reflecting a limited yet minimally adequate range of vocabulary with noticeable mechanical slips.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, successfully employing subordinate clauses and conjunctions such as 'between 1967 and 2007' and 'as the UK and Sweden's levels fell while Italy and Portugal's rose'. There are, however, several grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text. These include missing capitalisation for proper nouns like countries, a spelling error in 'peron', and run-on sentence structures in the second paragraph where multiple clauses are joined solely by commas (comma splices), such as '...respectively in 1967 but there is a major change in 2007, the average...'. Despite these frequent errors, meaning is generally clear and communication is rarely impeded, supporting a Band 6 score.
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.