Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-01

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 5.0)

The pie chart illustrate the proportions of british students at one university in England who were able to speak other languages in addtion english, in 2000 and 2010.

Overall, no other language figure relatively the highest figure across the chart. Moreover, german language figure remain unchanged. However, another language proportion increased slightly.

In detail, german language had a same experience in both charts that is 10%. In contrast, earliar chart french language accounted for 15%. It grew gradually to 20% in 2010. No other language figure recorded at 30% in 2000. By contrast, it rose sharply to 35% in 2010. Furthermore, two other languages started at 10%. It increased to 15% in 2010.

Finally, spanish language began at 20%. However, it dropped gradually to 10% in 2010.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response only partially addresses the task and fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 150 words, falling short at 127 words. While the student attempts to report some main features and comparisons from the charts, such as noting that 'german language figure remain unchanged' and mentioning figures for Spanish and French, the selection of data is incomplete and contains inaccuracies. For instance, the transcription shows French at 15% and Spanish at 20% in 2000, whereas the text contains confusing statements and misinterprets data trends. Furthermore, the overview is overly simplistic, stating only that 'no other language figure relatively the highest figure'. To achieve a higher band, the writer must extend the response to meet the word count, provide a clearer, more comprehensive overview of the main trends, and ensure accurate reporting of the data without factual errors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some basic organisation in the response, with an introduction, an overview sentence, and body paragraphs detailing the data. However, there is no clear overall progression, and the logical flow is disrupted by mechanical and repetitive transitions such as 'In detail', 'In contrast', and 'Finally'. Cohesive devices are often inadequate or misused, and referencing is weak, as seen in repetitive sentence starters like 'It grew' and 'It increased'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of information lacks sophistication. To improve, the student needs to use a wider and more natural range of cohesive devices to link ideas smoothly across sentences and paragraphs, ensuring a more cohesive and logically structured progression of data.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and repetitive, which is just minimally adequate for the task. The student relies on basic terms such as 'proportion', 'figure', 'increased', and 'decreased'. There are also noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'german language had a same experience' and 'earliar chart french language', along with spelling mistakes like 'british', 'addtion', 'german', and 'earliar'. These errors occasionally cause strain for the reader. To reach a higher band, the writer must incorporate a wider range of vocabulary, including less common lexical items and precise synonyms (e.g., 'percentage', 'share', 'rose', 'declined'), and improve accuracy in spelling and word collocation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student uses a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with occasional, mostly faulty, attempts at complex forms. Frequent grammatical errors occur throughout the text, including missing articles ('The pie chart illustrate' instead of illustrates, 'in addtion english' instead of in addition to English), subject-verb agreement issues ('the proportions... was' or singular verbs with plural nouns), and awkward prepositional phrases. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader. To improve, the student needs to demonstrate better control over basic grammatical structures, ensure accurate subject-verb agreement, and incorporate a greater variety of error-free complex sentences.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.