Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-13

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 two pie charts illustrates the proportion of different languages spoken by students at a university during 2000 and 2010.

There has been 6 categories showing different percentage of languages with 3 categories showing upward trend and 2 showing downward trend with German remained same during this period.

In 2000 No other language had highest percentage of 30% with second highest Spanish 20% while French and other language remained at 15% alongwith lowest total of Two other languages at 10%.

While on the other hand in 2010 No other language had a boost of 5% from previous record making it 35% along with rise in Another language and Two other languages with 20% and 15%.French had fallen its percentage to 10% along with Spanish which stands on 10% lasser to previous recorded percentage while German remained constant throughout this period with 10%.

In conclusion there has been uprising and downsloping of languages throughout this period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses the main features of the two pie charts, noting the categories and making relevant comparisons between 2000 and 2010. The student correctly identifies the leading categories, such as 'No other language' rising from 30% to 35%, and highlights categories that increased, decreased, or remained constant, such as German at 10%. While the overview is slightly mechanical and could be more synthesised, all parts of the prompt are covered, and key trends are appropriately reported to meet the requirements of a Band 6.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay has a coherent overall arrangement, with a clear introduction and conclusion. However, the logical progression is hindered by repetitive sentence structures and a lack of varied cohesive devices. Phrases like 'While on the other hand' are slightly awkward, and paragraphing is minimal, with the body of the essay compressed into a few dense blocks of text rather than clearly separated paragraphs for comparison. Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the ambiguous naming of language categories. These issues place the response firmly in the Band 5.5 to 6.0 range.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting less common terms such as 'upward trend', 'downward trend', 'constant', and 'boost'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies and awkward collocations throughout the text, such as 'No other language had highest percentage', 'French had fallen its percentage', and 'lasser' (lesser/lower). Spelling and word-choice errors, like 'downsloping', do occasionally occur, although they do not completely impede communication. This demonstrates a typical Band 5.5 lexical profile.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('The two pie charts illustrates'), missing articles ('had highest percentage'), and awkward prepositional phrases ('stands on 10% lasser to previous recorded percentage'). While meaning is generally communicated despite these errors, the frequent inaccuracies in complex structures prevent the response from achieving a Band 6.0, aligning it more closely with a Band 5.0.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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