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 line graph illustrates the average carbon dioxide CO2 emissions per capita, measured in metric tonnes, in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and Portugal in the year 1967 and 2007.

Overall, the emission rate had decline sharply in The United Kingdom, while Portugal's rose greatly. Whereas, Sweden's had slight increase before falling.

The emission of carbon dioxide in the United Kingdom decreased from 10.8 metric tonnes in 1967 to 8.9 metric tonnes in 2007. Sweden's carbon emission first rose slightly from 8.6 metric tonnes in 1967 to 10.2 metric tonnes in 1977, before falling to 7.3 metric tonnes in 2007, which is quite disturbing.

In 1967, the emission of carbon dioxide in Italy is lower than the United Kingdom, but it rose sharply from 4.2 metric tonnes in 1967 to 7.8 metric tonnes in 2007, which was twice the 1967 figures. Similarly, Portugal carbon emission also rose from 1.7 metric tonnes in 1967 to 5.7 metric tonnes in 2007, wich was five times the 1967 figures.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses the main parts of the task by identifying key features and making comparisons between the countries over the 40-year period. However, some ideas are under-developed or lack precision. For instance, the overview mentions general trends like a sharp decline in the UK and a rise in Portugal, but it misses Sweden's overall downward trajectory after 1977. Additionally, the student includes personal commentary such as "which is quite disturbing", which is inappropriate for an academic report. The data points cited are generally relevant, but some figures diverge slightly from the actual source material.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The text maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical structure by breaking information down into an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for different countries. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. The transition "Whereas, Sweden's had slight increase before falling" is grammatically disjointed and lacks proper connection to the preceding sentence. Paragraphing is attempted, but referencing and linking across sentences could be smoother to ensure a clearer progression of ideas throughout the report.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying basic comparative concepts such as "rose sharply" and "decreased". The student attempts some less common vocabulary, but this is accompanied by word choice and spelling errors, such as "decline" instead of "declined" and the misspelling "wich". While these minor lexical slips do not seriously impede communication, they prevent the writing from achieving a higher band. More precise academic collocations would strengthen this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses such as "which is quite disturbing" and "which was twice the 1967 figures". There are several errors in grammar and tense consistency, including "the emission rate had decline" and "Italy is lower than" instead of past tense forms. Punctuation and article usage also show occasional lapses. Nonetheless, these errors are relatively infrequent and rarely impede the overall communication of the data.

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

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