Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-29

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 graph illustrates the average of how much a person emits carbon dioxide between 1967 and 2007 in some countries. The horizontal axis demonstrates the CO2 emissions in tons metrics and the vertical axis shows the growing years. For Portugal and Italy, the emission of the gas has been increasing continously over the years. Sweden relatively has an increase in the year 1977, but then it was drastically reduced to less than 6 tons by the year 2007. In 1967, United Kingdown had the largest emission of more than 10 tons, but it has been reduced over the years. Although this decrease in not much, and it still has higher metrics of carbon dioxide in comparison of other countries. Despite of an increase in Portugal, it still has the lowest emission among all.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important patterns: the UK starts highest and declines, Sweden rises before falling, and Italy and Portugal increase overall. You also note that Portugal remains the lowest, which is accurate. However, the summary is incomplete and some details are imprecise: Italy levels off at about 7.6 tonnes from 1997 to 2007, rather than increasing continuously, and Portugal reaches the same level as Sweden by 2007. The overview would be stronger if it clearly compared the countries’ overall directions and final rankings. The response is also 17 words below the required minimum, limiting the detail available to report the main features. Add a few accurate figures and explain the key comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response follows a generally understandable order, moving from the overall trends to individual countries, and linking words such as “but,” “although” and “despite” show attempts to connect ideas. However, it is presented as one paragraph, so the overview and supporting details are not clearly separated. Some connections are also awkward or unclear: “Although this decrease in not much” does not clearly explain the UK’s trend, while “Despite of an increase in Portugal” is not smoothly linked to the point that it remains lowest. Organise the response into an introduction, a concise overview and detail paragraphs, and use comparisons to guide the reader from one trend to another.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “emission,” “reduced,” “increasing” and “lowest,” so the main meaning is usually clear. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “the average of how much a person emits,” “tons metrics” and “higher metrics of carbon dioxide.” “Continously” and “Kingdown” are also misspelled. These issues make the description less precise, particularly when reporting units and comparing levels. Use standard chart language such as “average emissions per person,” “metric tonnes” and “higher emissions than.” A wider set of accurate trend verbs—such as “declined,” “peaked” and “levelled off”—would help you describe the different lines more precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including clauses beginning with “Although” and “Despite,” and the main trends can generally be understood. However, some sentence structures are faulty or incomplete. “Although this decrease in not much” lacks a clear grammatical construction, and “Despite of an increase in Portugal” uses an incorrect pattern; write “Despite an increase in Portugal” or “Although emissions increased in Portugal.” The opening also has an awkward structure, and “the vertical axis shows the growing years” does not express the intended relationship clearly. Practise forming complete comparison sentences and checking clause structure, articles and prepositions. More accurate complex sentences would make the comparisons easier to follow.

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