Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-30

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 chart illustrates the carbone dioxide emissions per person in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and Portugal from 1967 to 2007.

Overall, UK had the highest tonnes of CO2 per person, but it went down by the time. While Italy and Portugal showed significant increase over the period. Sweden shown with slight upward trend before declining the trend.

At the beginning, people in Uk were generating above 10 tonnes, followed by Swedish people between 8 and 10 tonnes. Italy and Portugish people bringing out approximately 4 tonnes and less than 2 tonnes respectively. In 1977, three countries had an increase in CO2 per person except UK with almost similar as before. between 1977 and 1997, UK and Sweden went downwards with, less than 10 tonnes and 6 tonnes respectively. However, Italy and Portugal showed considerable increase of less than 8 tonnes, and between 4 and 6 tonnes.

In 2007, UK still remains at the top even with declining trend, above 8 tonnes. Italy took the second place with slight less than 8 tonnes. While Italy came similar to Portugal with less than 6 tonnes for both.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the chart’s subject and period, and your overview captures the main contrast: UK emissions declined while Italy and Portugal rose. You also report several relevant comparisons, including the UK’s high starting point and Portugal’s low one. However, some details are unclear or imprecise. Sweden did not show a “slight upward trend” overall: it rose to a peak in 1977, then fell substantially. The final comparison is also confusing because Italy was clearly above Portugal in 2007, rather than similar to it; Portugal and Sweden were the two countries at about 5.4 tonnes. To strengthen the response, describe these key turning points and rankings more accurately and make the overview’s comparisons explicit.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs of supporting details. The sequence from the starting figures through the later years is generally easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “However,” and “In 2007” help signal relationships. Cohesion is sometimes mechanical or unclear, though. The repeated “While” constructions leave fragments, as in “While Italy came similar to Portugal…,” and “between 1977 and 1997” introduces several trends without clearly separating the countries’ changes. Some references, such as “it” in the overview, could be more precise. Use complete sentences and organise the detail by clear comparisons or time periods.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a relevant range of chart vocabulary, including “emissions,” “declining trend,” “considerable increase,” and “approximately,” so the main information is usually understandable. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, which limits precision: “carbone dioxide,” “Sweden shown with slight upward trend,” “people … bringing out,” and “came similar to Portugal.” Country names are also inconsistently capitalised (“Uk”), and “Portugish” is misspelled. Prefer standard reporting language such as “emissions rose,” “reached a peak,” and “was comparable to.” More accurate collocations and consistent spelling would make your descriptions clearer and more natural without requiring a much wider vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, and the main message can generally be followed. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly in verb forms, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “Sweden shown” needs a finite past-tense verb, while “UK had the highest tonnes” would be clearer as “The UK had the highest emissions.” The sentence beginning “While Italy came similar to Portugal” is incomplete, and “UK still remains” shifts awkwardly between past and present when describing a chart ending in 2007. There are also punctuation and capitalisation issues, such as starting “between 1977” with a lowercase letter. Check that each sentence has a complete main clause and keep past-tense reporting consistent.

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