Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-05

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 given line graph illustrates the average carbon dioxide emmison in metric tones per peron in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and Portugal between 1967 and 2007.

Overall, the emission of carbon dioxide in the united kingdom started highest, but over the period it gradually decreasing. While portugal and italy showed the opposite trend.

In 1967, united kingdom release 11 metric tones carbon dioxide and it was at peak in 1977. While in the 1987 it was gradually decling around 10 metric tones, and continue to moving downward 9 metric in 1997 and 7 metric tones in the 2007 at his lowest positin. Sweden was nearly 8 mertic tones in 1967 after it was surged at peak around 10 mertic tones in 1977. Whereas it was considerably dearsing 7 merti tones in 1987 and 5 in 2007.

Italy discharged lowest in 1967 nearly 4 mertic tones, over the period it was steadily rising 6 metric tones in 1987 and rach at his highest point 7 metri tones in 2007. Similaraly, sweden begin reasling 1 metric tones in 1967 and it was slowly increasing 5 metric tones in 1997 and approximetly 6 metric tones in 2007

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by outlining the main trends and selecting key features from the chart, such as the UK starting highest and Portugal rising significantly. However, the task is only partially addressed because some data points are inaccurate or poorly described, for instance stating the UK was at a peak in 1977 when it remained relatively flat, and misidentifying Portugal as Sweden in the final sentence ('Similaraly, sweden begin reasling...'). The overview provides a general summary of the trajectories, but the development of specific details lacks precision and contains some factual inaccuracies when compared to the visual data. To reach a higher level, all key data points should be reported accurately without confusing the countries, and the overall comparisons should be more fully articulated.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic organizational structure with an introduction and separate body paragraphs for different countries, giving the response some overall arrangement. However, there is a lack of clear progression, and the logical flow is disrupted by confusing transitions and referencing errors, such as the abrupt shift to Sweden at the end of the final paragraph. Cohesive devices are used minimally and sometimes inappropriately, such as the repetitive use of 'While' and 'Whereas' to introduce contrasting points. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs is weak. To improve Coherence and Cohesion, the writer needs to ensure ideas flow logically from one sentence to the next, use a wider and more accurate range of cohesive devices, and maintain clear referencing throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and barely adequate for the task, with a restricted range that repeats basic terms like 'metric tones' and 'increasing'. There are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, such as 'emmison', 'peron', 'decling', 'dearising', 'rach', and 'reasling', which detract from the quality of the writing and occasionally cause some difficulty for the reader. The attempt to use less common vocabulary like 'discharged' or 'surged' shows some effort, but these are often incorrectly applied or misspelled. To achieve a higher score, the writer must expand their lexical repertoire, improve spelling accuracy, and use vocabulary with greater precision and natural collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer uses a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with frequent errors when attempting more complex forms. There are numerous grammatical inaccuracies, including missing articles ('at his lowest positin'), incorrect verb tenses ('gradually decreasing' instead of 'gradually decreased'), preposition errors, and subject-verb agreement issues. These frequent errors cause strain for the reader and reflect a weak control of basic grammatical patterns. To improve, the writer needs to demonstrate a greater variety of complex sentence structures and significantly reduce the frequency of basic grammatical errors by paying closer attention to tense consistency and sentence completion.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.