Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-03
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 charts illustrates the proportion of UK students at one university who were enough capable to communicate in Spanish, French, German, and other languages with english from 2000 to 2010, measured in %.
Overall, a number of students choose to communicate in english. Although Spanish and French initially recorded the highest figure, it eventually drop and reached at the level of german.
In 2000, Spanish accounted for 20%, indicating a dominant sector. While French remained the second highest proportion among other languages, German and other languages accounted smaller figure at 10%. There were a significant students who did not prefer any other language(30%).
After a decade, the figures for Spanish and French declined, it reached a level of 10%. However, the proportion for different language rose ranging from 15% in 2000 to 20% in 2010. Most of the British students preferred only english language to speak. By contrast, a preference of german remained same over the period.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting an overview and reporting main features from both charts, such as the initial dominance of Spanish in 2000 at 20% and the increase in those speaking no other language to 35% in 2010. However, some aspects are under-developed or inaccurate. For instance, the writer claims Spanish and French 'reached at the level of german' in 2010, whereas German remained at 10% while French dropped to 10% and Spanish to 10%, creating some confusion in comparisons. Furthermore, the selection of data is sometimes limited, leaving room for a more fully developed summary of all categories like 'another language' and 'two other languages'.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response maintains a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, separating the introduction, overview, and body details. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader through the data, such as 'Overall', 'In 2000', 'While', and 'By contrast'. However, referencing and progression are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, the phrase 'it reached a level of 10%' is ambiguous regarding which language 'it' refers to, and the flow between sentences in the second body paragraph can feel disjointed due to abrupt shifts in focus.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
An adequate range of vocabulary is attempted for the task, including terms like 'proportion', 'dominant sector', and 'preference'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors in word choice, word formation, and collocation, such as 'enough capable' instead of 'sufficiently capable', 'drop' instead of 'dropped', 'smaller figure at 10%' instead of 'a smaller figure of 10%', and 'different language' when referring to 'another language'. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict precision and indicate limitations in vocabulary control.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response demonstrates a limited range of structures, relying on a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentences, such as 'While French remained the second highest proportion...'. However, attempts at complex sentences and grammatical patterns often contain errors. There are frequent errors in verb tense consistency ('drop' instead of 'dropped'), subject-verb agreement ('There were a significant students' instead of 'There were significant numbers of students'), and prepositions ('at the level of german' instead of 'to the level of German'). These errors occur frequently and can occasionally cause difficulty for the reader.
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