Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-21
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 chart illustrates the proportion of british student at one university in England who were able to speak other languages in addition to English in 2000 and 2010.
Overall, No other language remained the highest speaked langauge in England in both years, while German only accounted for smallest shares. In addition, Two other languages and another langauge experienced nominal growth.Whereas, Spanish and French saur declined in their proportions.
In 2000, No other languages was speaked highest in England among British students with over 30 percent which was more than doubled of the figuare of German and Two other langauges at 10 percent.By 2010, the proportion of Spanish fell to 10 percent while, French dropped slightly to 10 percent from 15 percent.
The most dramatic change was Another langauge which increased by 50 percent in 2010 from its own proportion ratio in 2000.In contrast, No other langauge has highest proportion.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response successfully covers all parts of the visual data, presenting an overview and accurately reporting main features such as the dominance of 'No other language' and the trends for Spanish and Another language. For instance, the student correctly notes that 'No other language remained the highest' and highlights the decline in Spanish and French. However, there are minor inaccuracies in data reporting, such as stating that Another language 'increased by 50 percent' rather than noting its proportional rise from 15% to 20%. The overview is clear and the comparisons are relevant. Overall, the task is addressed well, fulfilling the requirements for a Band 6.5 to 7.0, and is best placed at Band 6.5 due to slight errors in numerical interpretation.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is structured into a clear introduction and body paragraphs, providing a coherent overall arrangement. Logical progression is attempted, moving from an overview into specific year-by-year comparisons. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or awkwardly deployed, as seen in transitions like 'Whereas, Spanish and French saur declined' or the repetitive use of 'In addition' and 'In contrast'. Paragraphing is present but could be managed more effectively to separate distinct trends. Referencing is generally clear, but occasional clunky phrasing detracts from smooth flow. These features align well with the Band 6 descriptor, where cohesion is sometimes faulty and referencing not always entirely smooth.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items such as 'proportion', 'nominal growth', and 'dramatic change'. However, there are several noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that detract from precision, including 'speaked' instead of 'spoken', 'saur' instead of 'saw', and 'figuare' instead of 'figure'. Additionally, collocations are occasionally unnatural, such as 'highest speaked langauge'. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the lexical score from reaching Band 7. The vocabulary used is minimally sufficient to convey the intended meaning, placing it firmly at Band 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The two pie chart illustrates the proportion of british student...' and relative clauses ('who were able to speak...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors involving subject-verb agreement ('The two pie chart illustrates', 'No other languages was speaked'), capitalization ('british'), and word forms. Punctuation spacing is also occasionally neglected, for instance around commas and periods. Although these errors do not completely obscure the message, they occur with enough frequency to restrict the score to Band 5.5, reflecting a control of grammar that struggles slightly with accuracy when attempting complex structures.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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