Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-02

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 lines graph illustrates average emissions of carbon dioxide gas per person in different countries. The countries are United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and Portugal from 1967 to 2007.

Firstly, emissions in United Kingdom remain steady in the time period 1967 to 1977, emissions are about 11 metric tones in this time period and after this, it face a continuous downfall till 2007, it become about 9 metric tones in 2007. In sweden, the emissions firstly go upward during the years 1967 and 1977 and it go from about 9 to about 10.5 metric tones, but in the further years it go downward and become about 5.8 metric tones till the year 2007.

Emissions of carbon dioxide in Italy and Portugal increase sharply in the years 1965, 1977 and 1987, remain stable in the further remaining years 1997 and 2007. In Italy the emissions are about 4.4, 6.3 and 7 in the first three years and remain 7.8 metric tones in the remaing years. In Portugal, emissions also increase gradually from 1 to about 5.6 metric tones in the time period.

In conslusion, United Kingdom and Sweden face a downfall in the emissions of carbon dioxide, Italy and Portugal face a sharp increase in the emissions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response attempts to address all parts of the prompt by covering the four countries and the overall time period, but it presents some inaccuracies and under-developed ideas. For instance, the writer states that emissions for Italy and Portugal remained stable in 1997 and 2007, whereas the data shows Italy remaining steady while Portugal continued to rise slightly. Furthermore, the opening overview is overly simplistic ('United Kingdom and Sweden face a downfall..., Italy and Portugal face a sharp increase'). While the main trends are identified, the lack of precision in reporting specific figures and the tendency to generalise trends that fluctuate (such as Sweden's increase then decrease) keep this part of the response at a partial level of achievement. To improve, the student needs to ensure all major trends are accurately captured without generalising details that misrepresent the visual data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement with a logical division into paragraphs, including an introduction, body paragraphs for the data, and a conclusion. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes hindered by mechanical or repetitive cohesive devices, such as 'Firstly', 'in this time period', 'and after this', and 'in the further years'. Reference words are occasionally unclear, and the transition between sentences feels abrupt at times. To move to a higher band, the writer should employ a wider and more flexible variety of cohesive devices to link ideas smoothly and ensure that referencing between sentences is clearer and more natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts to use topic-specific language such as 'emissions', 'carbon dioxide', 'metric tones' (spelling error for 'tonnes'), and directional verbs like 'downfall', 'go upward', and 'increase sharply'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors in word choice, form, and spelling, such as 'lines graph' instead of 'line graph', 'metric tones', and repetitive use of basic verbs like 'go'. These limitations and occasional inaccuracies restrict the lexical range. To improve, the student should expand their repertoire of precise vocabulary for describing data trends, such as 'decrease', 'fluctuate', or 'decline', and pay closer attention to standard spelling and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The text displays a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences joined by coordinating conjunctions or basic relative clauses. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the response, including subject-verb agreement issues ('emissions... remain', 'it face', 'it become'), tense inconsistencies, and missing articles ('In sweden', 'In Italy'). Attempts at complex structures are often faulty, and these frequent errors require some effort from the reader to parse the meaning. To achieve a higher band, the student must incorporate a wider variety of complex sentence forms with greater accuracy and improve control over basic grammatical agreements, verb forms, and capitalization.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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