Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-12

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 given graph shows the average carbon dioxide emissions per person in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, and Portugal between 1967 and 2007.

Overall, British people stood first in the given data, Portuguese constantly increased Carbon dioxide emission, Meanwhile, Swedish people decreased their carbon dioxide emission with the passage of time.

On average British people emitted approximately 11 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide till the end of 1977 after that their emission gradullay tends to decreased and at the end of 2007 they reached to 9 metric tons. Sweden got peaked in 1977 where Swedish people released about 10.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide per person after that they got good control and their emission declined to 7 metric tonnes in 1987 and reached approximately 5.75 metric tons till the end of the year 2007.

On the other hand, Italian people gradually increased their emission of Carbon dioxide in the atomsphere from about 4 metric tonnes in 1967 they constantly surged there emission and till the end of 2007 they released 7.8 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide. While, Portuguese people constantly enhanced their reached about 7 metric tonnes till the end of 2007 form 1 metric tonnes.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the overall contrast between the UK’s high but declining emissions and Portugal’s steady rise, and you describe the main direction of change for all four countries. Several figures are broadly accurate, including the UK’s level near 11 tonnes initially and Sweden’s peak in 1977. However, the overview is incomplete: it does not mention that Italy rose to become the second-highest emitter, or that Italy and Portugal ended at roughly the same level. There are also important inaccuracies: Portugal reached about 5.4 tonnes, not 7, in 2007, and the UK finished at about 8.7 rather than 9 tonnes. Develop the comparisons more precisely and ensure the overview captures the key ranking changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs describing the countries’ trends. Grouping the UK and Sweden before Italy and Portugal also gives the report a basic sense of organisation. However, progression within sentences is sometimes difficult to follow, particularly in “they constantly surged there emission and till the end of 2007,” where the sequence and comparison are unclear. Linking words such as “On the other hand” and “While” are used, but the final paragraph’s connection between the two countries is not fully controlled. The overview also uses “Meanwhile” awkwardly after a comma. Use clearer sentence boundaries and organise each comparison around a specific period or shared trend.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “emissions,” “metric tonnes,” “declined,” and “gradually,” so the reader can generally understand the trends being described. There is also some attempt to vary wording with “peaked,” “surged,” and “enhanced.” However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for a data report: people did not “get good control” of emissions, and “constantly enhanced their reached” does not clearly express Portugal’s rise. “Atomsphere” is misspelled, and “there emission” confuses the possessive form with “there.” Prefer precise, neutral verbs such as “rose,” “fell,” and “remained stable,” and use “emissions” consistently when describing the measured quantities.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, and the response communicates the broad trends despite some grammatical errors. However, complex sentences are not consistently controlled. For example, “after that their emission gradullay tends to decreased” combines an unclear time reference with an incorrect verb pattern; “tends to decrease” or “then declined” would be grammatical. There are also problems with articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries, as in “Sweden got peaked in 1977 where…” and “While, Portuguese people…”. The opening overview joins separate statements with a comma, and several long sentences would be clearer if divided. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and use shorter, well-punctuated comparisons alongside complex structures.

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