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 charts illustrate the proportion of British students 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 spoken language in England in both years, while German only accounted for the shares. In addition, two other language and another language experienced nominal growth, whereas Spanish and French experienced decline in their proportions.
In 2000, no other language was spoken highest in England among British students with over 30 percent, which was more than doubled of the figure of German and Two other languages 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 language which increased by 50 percent in 2010 from its own proportion ratio in 2000. In contrast, no other langauge has the highest proportion.
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 response covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the charts comparing British students' language skills in 2000 and 2010. An overview is attempted in the second paragraph, noting the general trends such as the dominance of 'no other language' and the decrease in Spanish and French. However, some of the data reporting contains inaccuracies and confusing phrasing, such as claiming 'no other language remained the highest spoken language in England' (the data reflects university students, not the country) and stating that 'German only accounted for the shares.' Key data points are generally present, but the overall development and precision in selecting and reporting comparisons prevent it from reaching a higher band.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is arranged into a logical structure with an introduction, an overview paragraph, and body details. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes hindered by awkward phrasing and mechanical cohesive devices. For instance, the transition 'In addition, two other language and another language experienced nominal growth, whereas Spanish and French experienced decline' introduces several categories simultaneously without smooth integration. Paragraphing is attempted, but the final paragraph is very short and repetitive, noting 'no other langauge has the highest proportion' again, which creates redundancy rather than logical progression.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate to communicate basic trends, featuring terms like 'proportion', 'growth', 'decline', and 'dramatic change'. However, there are notable lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations, such as 'highest spoken language', 'accounted for the shares', and 'proportion ratio'. Additionally, there is a spelling error ('langauge'). The range of vocabulary is somewhat limited and repetitive, with frequent reuse of words like 'proportion' and 'language', which prevents the response from achieving a higher score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The two charts illustrate the proportion of British students... who were able to speak...' and 'while, French dropped slightly to 10 percent from 15 percent.' However, grammatical errors and awkward punctuation are present throughout, including unnecessary commas (e.g., 'while, French dropped'), missing plurals ('two other language'), and confusing comparative structures ('which was more than doubled of the figure'). While these errors do not completely impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to restrict the score to a band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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