Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-02
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 given below shows the proportionate of students from Britain at an institute in England who were capable to speak other languages as well compared to English, in two years 2000 and 2010.
Overall, what stands out from the given data is that in 2000 students most of them weren't able to speak any other language but few of them were good in Spanish and French. Whereas in 2010 ratio of students who weren't able to speak in any other language was even higher but there were some who were good in French as well.
In 2000, almost 30% of students didn't know how to speak another language but minority of them were quite good at some other European languages. Moreover, 15% of them were good at speaking French whereas, Spanish was spoken by a solid 20% students. Likewise, only 10% of them knew how to speak German but around 15% of them knew how to speak another language which was unknown. And about 10% were found fluent in two other languages as well.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response covers the main features of the charts, but there are significant inaccuracies in data interpretation. For instance, the student states that in 2000, 30% of students did not know another language, whereas the chart indicates 20%. Furthermore, the summary of the 2010 data is contradictory; the student claims the proportion of students unable to speak another language was 'even higher' in 2010, but the chart shows a decrease from 20% to 10%. These errors in reporting data prevent a clear overview and undermine the accuracy of the task completion. The response would benefit from more careful verification of the figures provided in the visual prompt.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into paragraphs, and there is a basic attempt at logical progression. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally confusing. Phrases like 'Moreover' and 'Likewise' are used, but the flow between sentences is sometimes disjointed. The referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the transition between the general overview and the specific data points. While the structure is present, the lack of clear, logical links between the two years and the specific categories makes the overall progression feel somewhat repetitive and limited.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. The student uses basic terms like 'good in' or 'good at' repeatedly, which is repetitive and informal. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'proportionate of students' (should be 'proportion of students') and 'capable to speak' (should be 'capable of speaking'). While the student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary, the range is limited, and the errors in word choice occasionally draw attention to themselves, though they do not fully impede communication.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Examples include 'students most of them weren't able' (redundant subject), 'ratio of students... was even higher' (incorrect comparison), and '20% students' (missing 'of'). Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence construction is often clunky. While the meaning is usually clear, the frequency of errors in basic grammar and sentence structure prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. More attention to subject-verb agreement and prepositional usage is required.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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