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 given pie charts illustrates the percentage of the students who speak other languages in addition to English in 2000 and 2010.

Overall, dominant sector is no other language in both years. While major contribution is from Spanish speakers in 2000 as well as 2010. Propotion of students which French fell down in 2010 as campare to 2000. Moreover, the percentage of German speakers remain unchanged. The percentge of students speaking other languages increased considerably.

In both years, the dominant sector was no other language with the percentage of 30% in 2000 and 35% in 2010. The major sector was other languages. The percentage was 25% in 2000 and increased condiderably. At the end 2010. it was about 35%. The proportion of german speakers was unchanged and was about 10% in both years.

In 2000, the figure of Spanish speakers had second highest contribution with 20% but it fell down to 10% in 2010. The percentage of French speakers also faced a drop from 15% in 2000 to 10% in 2010.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student successfully identifies the main features of the charts, noting that 'no other language' was the dominant sector in both years and highlighting key shifts such as the decrease in French and Spanish speakers alongside the increase in other languages. An overview is present, and key data points are appropriately cited. However, there are some minor inaccuracies and slight confusion in the grouping of categories, particularly regarding the distinction between 'other languages' and specific language breakdown. Nevertheless, all parts of the prompt are addressed, fulfilling the requirements for a Band 6.5 or 6.0 level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement and attempts a logical progression by introducing an overview followed by detailed body paragraphs. Paragraphing is used, though some paragraphs are short and slightly disjointed. Cohesive devices are utilized (e.g., 'Overall', 'While', 'Moreover'), but they are sometimes repetitive or mechanically applied. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the ambiguous transition between sentences in the second body paragraph. Logical flow can be improved for better readability.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'percentage', 'proportion', 'dominant sector', and 'remain unchanged'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors, such as 'illustrates' with a plural subject ('The given pie charts illustrates'), 'Propotion', 'campare', 'condiderably', and 'german' (uncapitalized). Less common vocabulary is attempted with some inaccuracy. Communication is not impeded, but the lexical control limits the score to a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as concessive clauses using 'while'. However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('charts illustrates'), missing articles ('with the percentage of 30%'), and awkward phrasings ('At the end 2010. it was about 35%'). While these errors do not completely obscure the meaning, they occur regularly and restrict the grammatical grade.

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

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