Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-17
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 graph illustrate the carbon dioxide emission from [redacted phone]. It can be clearly seen that over the period of time some countries have significant increase in the emission while some countries have descreased in the emissions over the period of time.
If we start with 1967 it is visible that the United Kingdom has the highest CO2 emission while Portugal has the least emission but with the time the trend start to change. By analysing the graph we can see countires whoose emission was least in the beginning are gaining rise in there emission while on the other hand countries with the extreme emission have seen with massive decrease in them . The country which has gained the most in the period is Portugal and the country which decrease the most is Sweden. At in 1987 Sweden and Italy were on the same page but after that Italy keep rising where Sweden controlled the emission and kept decreasing.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response attempts to address the prompt by summarising the general trends in the graph comparing carbon dioxide emissions in four countries from 1967 to 2007. However, the overview is very vague and lacks specific data points or naming of all the countries involved in the introduction. The student mentions that the UK had the highest emissions and Portugal the lowest in 1967, and correctly identifies Portugal's increase and Sweden's decrease. However, it fails to report key numerical figures or effectively compare data across the period, missing details about Italy's trajectory and the final values in 2007. This positions the response at Band 5, as it addresses the task only partially with limited and under-developed ideas.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The text lacks proper paragraphing, as it is written as one large block of text with only two sentences making up the entire body. The logical progression is weak because ideas flow into one another without clear introductory signposts or distinct groupings of data. Cohesive devices are minimal and repetitive, relying heavily on basic phrases like 'over the period of time' and 'on the other hand'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as 'with the time the trend start to change'. Overall arrangement shows some basic structural awareness, but the lack of paragraphing and faulty referencing places this firmly at Band 5.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, frequently reusing words like 'emission', 'country', and 'period'. There are notable word choice and form errors, such as 'graph illustrate' (instead of illustrates), 'descreased', 'countires', 'whoose', and 'gaining rise' instead of increasing. While the writer attempts some less common vocabulary such as 'massive decrease', inaccuracies in collocation and spelling ('countires', 'whoose') hinder precision. The lexical range is minimally adequate for the task, matching the Band 5 descriptor where noticeable errors cause some difficulty for the reader.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty. For example, sentences run on excessively without proper punctuation (e.g., 'By analysing the graph we can see countires whoose emission was least in the beginning are gaining rise in there emission while on the other hand countries with the extreme emission have seen with massive decrease in them'). There are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('The graph illustrate'), incorrect prepositions, and missing auxiliary verbs. These errors require the reader to occasionally re-read, reflecting Band 5 performance.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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