Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-21
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)
The line graph shows the average amount of carbon dioxide (co2) emissions per person in the united kingdom ,Swedan ,Italy and Portugal from 1967 to 2007.
Overall,the UK had the heighest level of CO2 emissions during most of the period.However,its emission decreased gradually after reaching a peak.Swedan also showed a decrease after 1977.In contrast, Italy and Portugal had an overall increase in their emissions.
In1947,the UK produced about 11 metric tonnes of CO2 per person.This figure stayed almost the same until 1977,and then it started to fall.By2007,emissions in the UK had dropped to around 9 tones per person.
Swedan started at approximately 8.5 tonnes in 1967.its emission increased to about 10 tonnes in 1977,Swedan produced only about 5.5 tonnes per person.
Italy and Portugal followed a different trend.ITaky's emissions increased steadily from around 4 tonnes in 1967 to nearly 8 tonnes in 2007.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response attempts to cover the main trends in the line graph, noting that the UK had the highest emissions and that Sweden decreased after 1977, while Italy and Portugal saw increases. However, there are notable factual errors and typos regarding the years and data points, such as writing "In 1947" instead of 1967 and misspelling Sweden as "Swedan". Additionally, the body paragraph for Sweden is disjointed and incomplete, missing the end-point value and lacking proper development. Furthermore, the response falls below the 150-word minimum, containing only 143 words, which directly penalises the task achievement score.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay has a basic structure with an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for individual countries. Cohesive devices are used simply, such as "Overall," "However," and "In contrast." However, paragraphing is disrupted by formatting issues and the breakdown of sentences in the body section, particularly regarding Sweden and Italy. The progression of ideas becomes unclear in places due to missing transitions and abrupt shifts between data points.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like "emissions," "metric tonnes," "gradually," and "peak." However, there are noticeable spelling errors (e.g., "Swedan," "heighest," "tones," "ITaky") and repetitive phrasing. The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited and lacks precision in places, which restricts the lexical score to a band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as "Overall, the UK had the highest level of CO2 emissions during most of the period." However, there are numerous mechanical and grammatical errors, including missing spaces after punctuation marks, incorrect capitalization of countries and years, and faulty sentence constructions in the final paragraph. While meaning is generally conveyed, the frequency of errors prevents the score from reaching a higher band.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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