Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-26

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 ILUSTRATES THE AVERAGE EMISSION OF CARBON DIOXIDE BY THE POPULATION OF FOUR DIFFRENT COUNTRIES FROM 1967 TO 2007.

FIRSTLY AMONG FOUR COUNTRIES UNITED KINGDOM EMITS LARGEST AMOUNT OF CARBON DIOXIDE IN YEAR 1967 AND REMAINS HIGHEST THROUGH OUT THE TIME . ON CONTRARY PORTUGAL CONTRIBUTES THE LEAST . ALL COUNTRIES CONTRIBUTION INCREASED BY THE TIME HOWEVER SWEDEN SHOWS A DECLINE.

UNITED KINGDOM IN 1967 REMAINS LARGEST CONTRIBUTOR WITH 11 METRIC TONES FOLLOWED BY SWEDEN WITH 9 METRIC TONES, IN 1977 SWEDEN SHOWED A SURGE AND BECOME EQUAL CONTRIBUTOR AS UK WITH 11 TONNES HOWEVER UK SHOWS A DECREASE OF MERELY 3 TONNES WHEREAS SWEDEN SHOWS A DRASTIC FALL TO 5 TONNES.ITALY AND PORTUGAL COUNTRIBUTES 5 AND 1 TOONE RESPECTIVELY IN 1967 BUT SHOWS A RISE OF ALMOST DOUBLE FOR ITALY AND 5 TIMES FOR PORTUGAL

IN CONCLUSION , COUNTRIES CONTRIBUTION INCREASED THROUGH TIME EXCEPT SWEDEN WHICH CONTROLLED AND DECREASED THERE CO2 EMISSION .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main overall contrast: the UK remains the highest emitter, while Portugal starts lowest and rises substantially. You also include several relevant figures, such as the UK’s roughly 11 tonnes in 1967 and Sweden’s peak in 1977. However, the overview is not fully accurate: “All countries contribution increased” conflicts with the UK’s steady decline and Sweden’s overall fall. Some details are also unclear or inaccurate; for example, the UK falls by about 2 tonnes, not 3, and Sweden ends at around 5.4 tonnes rather than 5. The final comparison that Italy nearly doubles and Portugal rises fivefold is useful, but the later trends and Italy’s eventual position are not clearly reported. A more precise overview and fuller coverage of the main changes would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an opening statement to an overview, country details and a conclusion. This gives the reader a coherent general route through the information. However, the progression is weakened by repetition: the UK being the largest contributor is stated in both the overview and the detail paragraph, then repeated again in the conclusion. Linking phrases such as “Firstly,” “On contrary” and “In conclusion” are used, but some connections are mechanical or do not clearly express the relationship between ideas. The long detail paragraph also combines several countries and time periods without clear grouping. Organise the body into clearer comparisons—for example, declining UK and Sweden versus rising Italy and Portugal—and use references that make each trend easy to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “emission,” “surge,” “decline” and “contributor,” and the reader can generally understand the intended comparisons. However, word choice and spelling errors are noticeable and sometimes make the meaning less precise. “Countries contribution” is not a natural way to describe the figures, while “controlled and decreased there CO2 emission” is unclear. There are also misspellings such as “ILUSTRATES,” “DIFFRENT,” “TONES” and “COUNTRIBUTES,” alongside inaccurate forms such as “toone.” Aim for accurate, natural collocations such as “per-person emissions,” “rose to” and “fell to,” and check spelling carefully. This would make the vocabulary more precise and reliable.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences with contrast, as in “whereas Sweden shows a drastic fall,” so there is some variety in structure. However, grammatical control is limited, and errors occur across much of the response. Examples include “United Kingdom emits” without an article, “All countries contribution increased,” and “Italy and Portugal … but shows a rise,” where agreement and sentence structure are faulty. Tense use also shifts between present and past when describing historical data, and several sentences run together without appropriate punctuation, particularly after “5 tonnes.” Practise forming accurate past-tense comparisons and checking subject–verb agreement, articles and sentence boundaries. More consistently controlled sentences would make the trends easier to understand.

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.