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 illustrates the percentage of different languages, that are spoken by the Britian students at one institution in England from 2000 to 2010.
Overall, speakers of no other language have the lightest percentage in one decade, followed by the French at 15% and the lowest one is two other languages.
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 are 15% and in 2010 they are decreased to 10%. German language has the consistency throughout 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 an increase in their number.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the charts for both 2000 and 2010. Key data points are correctly cited, such as Spanish starting at 20% and dropping to 10%, German remaining consistent at 10%, and those speaking no other language rising from 30% to 35%. However, the overview sentence in the second paragraph is somewhat vague and difficult to interpret ('speakers of no other language have the lightest percentage in one decade'). While comparisons are made between the two years, the response would be improved by a clearer and more comprehensive overview highlighting the overarching trends, such as the overall decline in specific single-language proficiency and the increase in monolingism.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The response has a clear overall arrangement and attempts to follow a logical progression, starting with an introduction, moving to an overview, and then detailing specific data categories. However, paragraphing is poorly managed; almost the entire body of the response is crammed into a single block of text after the introduction, which makes it feel dense and mechanical. Cohesive devices are basic and repetitive, relying heavily on time markers like 'in year 2000' and 'in year 2010'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'same is the case for French as well its speakers', which disrupts the natural flow of ideas between sentences.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms like 'percentage', 'consistency', 'spike', and 'depletes'. However, there are notable word-choice errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'the lightest percentage', 'the speakers of Spanish are 20%', and 'no other than these languages'. Spelling is generally accurate, but the misuse of certain collocations and imprecise terms ('depletes' instead of 'drops' or 'decreases') restricts the score. The vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic statistical information, but lacks the precision expected at higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are several run-on sentences and comma splices, such as 'German language has the consistency throughout these 10 years it remains the same to10%' and '...in 2000 and in comparison, with 2010 they are 35% they show a spike in numbers.' Prepositional errors also occur, such as 'to10%' instead of 'at 10%'. While the meaning remains mostly clear despite these errors, the frequent lack of proper punctuation and sentence separation limits the grammatical score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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