Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-12
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 5.0)
The pie charts illustrate the percentage of British students who were able to speak languages other than English from 2000 to 2010. Overall, it is noticeable that no other languages recorded the highest proportion, while German showed the least share throughout the period. On contrary, Spanish speakers were decline in 2010 compared to early years.
Turning to the details, in 2000, 20% British students were able to speak Spanish, whereas French and other languages contributed 15% both speakers. Similarly, German and two other languages had 10% both to speak in university. Moreover, no other languages recorded the highest proportion around 30% students who speak in university.
On the other hand, in 2010, no other language speakers rose from 30% to 35% in England. Furthermore, Spanish was also included French speakers and French were excluded in these years. In addition, other languages showed 15% speakers. Lastly, other languages remained relatively same throughout the period.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 4.5 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5
The student attempts to summarise the main features of the charts comparing the proportions of British students able to speak other languages in 2000 and 2010. However, the response suffers from significant confusion in interpreting the data, particularly regarding the category labelled 'no other languages' (which represents students speaking only English). The student describes this category incorrectly as a foreign language and states that it 'recorded the highest proportion.' Furthermore, comparisons are muddled, and key data points are either omitted or inaccurately reported, such as claiming Spanish was in decline while also providing contradictory statements about French. While there is an overview attempted, the inaccuracies in data interpretation prevent the response from fully addressing the prompt.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response is organised into multiple paragraphs, including an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs detailing the years 2000 and 2010. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by confusing sentences and poor referencing. Cohesive devices are attempted, such as 'Turning to the details' and 'On the other hand', but they are often used inappropriately or awkwardly, as seen with 'On contrary' instead of 'In contrast'. Paragraphing is present, but the internal coherence within paragraphs is weak due to unclear referencing and contradictory statements regarding the data categories.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, heavily relying on simple terms like 'proportion', 'percentage', 'speakers', and 'languages'. There are notable lexical and collocational errors throughout the text, such as 'Spanish speakers were decline' instead of 'declined', 'contributed 15% both speakers', and 'remained relatively same'. Attempts at less common vocabulary are either inaccurate or misused. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey a general topic, the frequent word-choice errors and limited range restrict the score to a band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent grammatical errors that impede clarity, including tense inconsistencies ('were decline', 'students who speak'), missing prepositions, and awkward phrasing such as 'German and two other languages had 10% both to speak in university'. Punctuation is generally basic, and sentence boundaries are sometimes blurred. The high frequency of structural errors and awkward grammar places this response firmly in the band 4.5 to 5.0 range.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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