Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The pie chart compares the percentage of British students in an university of England who can speak other languages along with English in two different years.

Overall, it is clear that mostly students in both years were unalbe to speak any foreign language. But in 2010 there is a slight increase in the number of foreign language speakers.

In 2000, the most proportion of students could not speak any other language. Spanish was the most familiar language among students in that year which accounted for 20% but in 2010, Spanish speakers declined and there were only 10% speakers left. French and was the second most favourite language in 2000, accounted for 15%. By comparison, in 2010 its popularity also declined and accounted for 10%.

German language remained the same in both years with 10% of all students.

However, the number of students with two other languages increased, in 2000, there were only 10% speakers which showed a slight rise in 2010 and accounted for 15%. In the last, students with another language also increased. In 2000, there were 15% students with another language knowlegde but, by the year 2010, the proportion increased to 15%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the main parts of the task by outlining the proportion of British students able to speak foreign languages in 2000 and 2010. However, the development of ideas is limited and contains inaccuracies. For instance, the student states that 'by the year 2010, the proportion increased to 15%' when describing the category of 'another language', but the preceding sentence already stated it was 15% in 2000, creating a contradiction since the data actually shows an increase from 15% to 20%. The overview attempts to capture the main trends, noting that most students were unable to speak a foreign language, but overall the information is only partially and sometimes inaccurately reported, holding the response at this level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay has a basic structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and an overall summary, providing a coherent overall arrangement. However, progression is sometimes hindered by mechanical or faulty cohesive devices. Transitions such as 'In the last' are unnatural, and referencing is occasionally unclear. Paragraphing is attempted, but the logical flow between ideas lacks seamless transitions. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to ensure that cohesive devices are used more naturally and that information flows smoothly from sentence to sentence without abrupt shifts or repetitive structural patterns.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'proportion', 'popularity', and 'knowlegde'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors, such as 'unalbe' instead of unable, 'most proportion' instead of highest proportion, and 'knowlegde' instead of knowledge. Furthermore, some phrasings are awkward, such as 'French and was the second most favourite language'. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they reflect the limitations characteristic of this band level. Expanding the range of vocabulary and ensuring accurate word forms and collocations will help improve this score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and some complex sentence forms, such as 'The pie chart compares the percentage... in two different years.' However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, particularly with articles and prepositions, such as writing 'in an university of England' instead of 'at a university in England'. Additionally, subject-verb agreement and tense consistency show occasional lapses, such as 'mostly students... were unalbe'. While these errors rarely completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent the writing from achieving a higher band. Greater control over complex sentence structures and grammatical accuracy is needed.

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

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