Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The charts below show the proportions of British students at one university in England who were able to speak other languages in addition to English, in 2000 and 2010

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The pie chart illustrates the percentage of british students able to speak languges othe than english from 2000 to 2010.

Overall,it can be seen that No other language recorde the favourite languge to speak for students in both years while german language and two other language were the lowest in 2000, whereas spanish ,french and german were similar in 2010 andanother langague was moderate .

According to the graph, in 2000 no other language had the highest proportionof british students able to speak at about 30% then it increased slightly in 2010 to about 35%.french language was at 15% in 2000 but it rose slowly in 2010 to 20%.However, german language remained stable percentage feom 2000 to 2020 about 10%.

on the other hand, spanish language stood at 20% in 2000 but this figure decreased slightly to 10% in 2010.By contrast,15% of british student able to speak in another language in 2000 ,but in 2010 it grew slightly to 20%.Meanwhile, two other languages accounted for 10% after that this figure increased to 15% in 2010.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You report most of the main figures and identify several relevant changes, including the rise in “No other language” from 30% to 35%, and the fall in Spanish from 20% to 10%. However, the overview is not fully accurate: “No other language” is a category, not the favourite language students speak, and German was not among the lowest categories in 2000, since it was tied with two other languages at 10%. There are also factual errors: French fell from 15% to 10%, rather than rising to 20%, and the stable German figure refers to 2000 and 2010, not 2020. Give a clearer overview of the main contrasts and check each comparison against the chart.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and two paragraphs describing the figures. You also use linking expressions such as “According to the graph,” “However,” and “By contrast” to signal comparisons. Nevertheless, the progression is weakened by an overview that mixes several categories without clearly summarising the main pattern, and the body moves between increases and decreases in a somewhat list-like way. Some links are also awkward or unclear, particularly “Meanwhile, two other languages accounted for 10% after that this figure increased.” Organise the details into clearer comparisons—for example, categories that rose, fell or stayed unchanged—and use punctuation to separate linked clauses.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “percentage,” “proportion,” “remained stable,” “decreased,” and “accounted for,” so the reader can generally understand the topic and trends. However, the range is limited and several word choices are inaccurate or unnatural. “No other language recorde the favourite language to speak” confuses a chart category with a language, while “moderate” does not clearly describe a percentage. There are also frequent spelling errors, such as “languges,” “othe,” “languge,” and “feom,” which make the writing less clear and polished. Use precise terms for chart categories and practise spelling common reporting vocabulary before writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and longer sentences with contrast, as in “Spanish language stood at 20% in 2000 but this figure decreased slightly to 10% in 2010.” However, control is inconsistent, and errors in sentence boundaries, agreement and clause construction sometimes make the meaning difficult to follow. For example, “15% of british student able to speak in another language in 2000” lacks a complete grammatical structure, and “after that this figure increased” joins clauses without suitable punctuation or a clear relationship. The sentence about German also uses “2020,” disrupting the time reference. Practise complete subject–verb structures and use full stops or conjunctions to separate comparisons.

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