Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-22

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 chart below demonstrates the percentage of British students who could speak multiple languages in addition to english at a university in England, in 2000 and 2010.

At a cursory glance, in the year 2000 Spanish was the most spoken language followed by French and German other than English. Subsequently, in the year 2010 most people were bilingual followed by people who spoke Spanish and French other than English.

To commence with, In 2000 20% of speakers were Spanish, 15% French and 10% Germans. Similarly, 10% were bilingual and 15% were familiar with other languages. Meanwhile, 30% of the population of the students only spoke English.

Similarly, in 2010 percentage of people who spoke English increased to 35%. Meanwhile for French and Spanish speakers the propotions dropped to 10%. While number of German talkers percentage remained the same. Finally, people who spoke another language increased from 15% to 20%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student attempts to summarise the main features of the charts by comparing language proficiency in 2000 and 2010. However, there are some minor data inaccuracies and over-generalisations in the overview, such as claiming that 'most people were bilingual' in 2010 when the largest category remained those with 'No Other Language' (35%). Furthermore, the response falls just short of the 150-word minimum, containing 149 words, which results in a slight penalty under Task Achievement. Despite these flaws, key trends such as the decrease in Spanish and French speakers and the increase in those speaking another language or two languages are correctly identified.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is structured into four distinct paragraphs, providing an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs detailing the specific data for each year. Cohesive devices such as 'At a cursory glance', 'Subsequently', 'To commence with', and 'Meanwhile' are used to guide the reader through the text, although some transitions feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, such as the consecutive use of 'Similarly' at the start of paragraphs three and four. Referencing is generally clear, and the overall progression is logical.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully employing terms related to data reporting such as 'percentage', 'proportions', 'speakers', and 'bilingual'. However, there are several word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'German talkers' instead of 'German speakers' or 'German only', and a lowercase 'english'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with mixed success, but communication is not impeded.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The text contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'In 2000 20% of speakers were Spanish...' and 'Meanwhile for French and Spanish speakers the proportions dropped to 10%.' There are noticeable grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, including missing commas, awkward prepositional use ('percentage of people who spoke English increased'), and a sentence fragment ('While number of German talkers percentage remained the same'). However, these errors do not impede overall communication.

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

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