Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-14
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 percentages of different languages british university students can speak in addition to English in 2000 and 2010.
Overall, it is evident that Spanish remained popular among british university students as the secondary language in both 2000 and 2010. Conversely, other trend showed some inconsistency between 2000 and 2010.
In 2000, Spanish only speakers accounted for 30% of total student population.The percentage increased to 35% in 2010 as they continued as the biggest group over the years. Number of students who could speak two other language other than english increased too. The percentage rose from 10% to 15% by 2010. Additionally, another language speaking students percentage was 15% in 2000 and the percentage rose to 20% of total students.Besides there was no change in percentage of german speaking students.
By contrast, the numebr of students who can only speak english fell sharply. It shrank from 20% in 2000 to 10% in 2010 . Furthermore the number of french only speakers decreased from 15% to 10% by 2010.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by identifying the main features and making relevant comparisons between the two years, 2000 and 2010. The introduction accurately paraphrases the prompt, and the body paragraphs effectively highlight key trends, such as the dominance of Spanish and the decline in students speaking only English. Data points are cited accurately from the charts, satisfying the requirements for an academic summary. However, the development is slightly basic and could be extended further by drawing more integrated comparisons across categories rather than treating each group in relative isolation. Overall, the response meets the descriptors for Band 6.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear division into introduction, body, and concluding trends. Logical organization is visible, with a progression from general overviews to specific group details. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or lacking, such as the abrupt transition 'Besides there was no change' and missing linking words between sentences. Paragraphing is generally appropriate, although the third and final paragraphs could be structured more cohesively as a single discussion of declining or contrasting categories. Referencing is mostly clear, but occasional minor awkwardness in cohesion places this response firmly at Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms like 'percentages', 'proportion', 'accounted for', and 'shrinking'. There are some successful attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'inconsistency', 'dominance', and 'sharply'. However, noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and phrasing occur, such as 'other trend showed' instead of 'other trends showed', and 'spanish only speakers' rather than 'students speaking only Spanish'. Spelling and word-formation errors do not impede communication, matching the Band 6.0 descriptors for lexical resource.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and time markers effectively. There are several error-free sentences, such as 'The percentage rose from 10% to 15% by 2010.' However, frequent minor grammatical errors occur, including missing capitalization on proper nouns ('british', 'german', 'french'), article errors ('the numebr', 'other language other than english'), and subject-verb agreement slips ('other trend showed'). Punctuation is also occasionally neglected, such as missing spaces after periods. These errors rarely impede communication, placing the grammatical performance at Band 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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