Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-13

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 5.0)

The line graph depicts the average emmision of carbon dioxide per person in the United Kingdom,Swedan, Italy and Portugal between 1967 and 2007.

Talking about portugal first of all it went on increasing from 1967 to 1997 to about nearly 5.7 metric tones then it increased in decimal till 2007 . In Italy, the graph goes on increasing from 4.3 to about 7.8 metric tons approx, then it attained stability till 2007.In Sweden,the number of person rised til 1977 and falls to the low levels in 1997. From these , it further goes on decreasing in 2007. In UK, the graph goes on decreasing rapidly from 1967 to 2007.

Overall , the emissions of carbon dioxide was low in United Kingdom in these 4 decades whereas huge difference was seen in Swedan . In Portugal there was rapid increase over these 4 decades.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response makes an attempt to summarise the main features of the line graph for the four countries, mentioning the general trends and some approximate figures (e.g., reaching 'about nearly 5.7 metric tones' for Portugal and '4.3 to about 7.8 metric tons approx' for Italy). However, the overview lacks precision and misinterprets key data points, notably stating that the UK emissions decreased while simultaneously claiming they were low throughout, and incorrectly describing Sweden's trajectory. Furthermore, the length requirement is NOT met, as the text contains 143 words, falling short of the 150-word minimum. This results in a penalty under Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The report shows some basic attempts at organisation, dividing the response into an introduction, body details, and a brief conclusion. However, the progression is disjointed and informal phrasing is used to guide the reader, such as 'Talking about portugal first of all'. Paragraphing is poorly handled, with the body consisting of a single, dense block of sentences that lacks clear logical transitions between countries. Cohesive devices are either repetitive or inadequate ('then', 'From these'), and referencing is sometimes ambiguous, which hinders the overall flow of information.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is of a limited and repetitive range, restricted mostly to basic reporting verbs like 'increasing', 'decreasing', and 'goes on'. There are several spelling mistakes throughout the text, including 'emmision', 'Swedan', 'rised', and 'tones'. While the writer attempts some less common terms like 'metric tons' and 'stability', the overall lexical control is weak, and word-choice inaccuracies (such as 'number of person rised') detract from the quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple or awkwardly concatenated clauses like 'the graph goes on increasing from 4.3 to about 7.8 metric tons approx, then it attained stability till 2007.' There are persistent errors in punctuation, capitalization (e.g., 'portugal', 'Swedan', 'UK'), and subject-verb agreement ('the emissions... was low'). Complex structures are rarely attempted, and when they are, they lack accuracy, causing some difficulty for the reader.

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