Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-29
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 is illustrating the percentage of different languages that are spoken by british students in one university in England from 2000 to 2010.
Overall, Speakers of no other language has the hightest percentage in these 10 years it is higher in 2000 and also in 2010.
In year 2000 the speakers of Spanish are 20% and in year 2010 it depletes to 10 % same is the case for French as well its speakers in 2000 is 15 and in 2010 they are decreased to 10%.German language has the consistency throughtout these 10 years it remains the same to10%.
Students who speak no other than these languages are 30% in 2000 and in comparison with 2010 they are 35% they show a spike in numbers.Speakers with two other languages are 10% in 2000 and they jump to 15% in 2010.Students who speak another language are 15% in year 2000 and in 2010 they are 20% which is a increase in there number.
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 for both 2000 and 2010. The student correctly identifies that students speaking no other language formed the largest group in both years (30% and 35% respectively) and highlights key trends, such as the decrease in Spanish (from 20% to 10%) and French (from 15% to 10%), while German remained steady at 10%. An overview is attempted, although it is embedded in the second sentence rather than presented as a distinct paragraph. Key comparisons between the two years are made successfully, fulfilling the core requirements of Academic Task 1.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is organized into three paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, followed by a combined body and overview section. Progression is generally logical as the student moves from overall findings to specific language categories. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and repetitive, relying heavily on time markers like 'In year 2000' and 'in 2010' without varied transitional phrasing. Furthermore, paragraphing is underdeveloped, as the overview is placed immediately after the introduction without being separated into its own logical section, detracting slightly from the overall structural clarity.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to data trends such as 'percentage', 'decreased', 'spike', and 'increase'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasings, such as 'depletes' instead of 'drops' or 'declines', 'consistency throughtout' instead of 'remained consistent', and spelling errors like 'hightest' and 'throughtout'. Attempts to use less common vocabulary are evident, but word choice and collocation are occasionally flawed, limiting the score to a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses ('Students who speak no other than these languages...') and comparative structures. However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several punctuation and agreement errors, such as missing articles ('the percentage', 'an increase'), subject-verb agreement issues ('speakers of Spanish are' where past tense is needed, 'its speakers... is'), and run-on sentences lacking proper punctuation (e.g., '...in 2000 and in comparison with 2010 they are 35% they show a spike in numbers'). These errors require some effort from the reader to parse, though they do not completely impede communication.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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