Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-05
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 compare the percentage of british students at a university in England who were able to speak languages other than English, in 2000 and 2010.
Overall, it is clear that the proportion of students who spoke no other language decreased, while the percentage of students speaking another language, two other languages, and spanish increased. German remain unchanged, whereas french become less common.
In 2000, the largest group was student speaking no other language, accounting for 30%, but this figure slightly up to 35% in 2010. The percentage of student who speak french only also declined, froem 15% to 10%. By contrast, the proportion speaking spanish only rose significantly from 20% to 35%, makin it most common second language in 2010.
The percentage of students speaking German only remain stable at 10% in both years. Meanwhile, students who spoke another language increased from15% to 20%, and those able to speak two other languages rose from10% to 15%.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response addresses the prompt partially, outlining some main features and comparisons of the data from 2000 and 2010. However, there are notable inaccuracies in reporting the data. For instance, the student states that the proportion speaking Spanish rose to 35% and made it the most common second language, and that German remained unchanged, while misinterpreting or misreading certain trends and figures shown in the visual data (such as the confusion regarding Spanish and French percentages). Some ideas are presented, but the overview is somewhat inaccurate regarding specific language trends. The response meets the 150-word minimum requirement once the copied prompt words are excluded.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response exhibits a coherent overall arrangement with a clear logical progression from an introductory statement to an overview and subsequent body paragraphs. Information and ideas are generally grouped by year and category. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, overview, and detailed body paragraphs. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or basic, such as the repetitive use of transition words like 'In 2000', 'Meanwhile', and 'By contrast'. Referencing is mostly clear, though the overall progression could be smoother with more flexible cohesive links.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The lexical resource is limited but minimally adequate for the task. The student attempts some less common vocabulary related to data trends, such as 'proportion', 'account for', and 'significantly'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and spelling mistakes throughout the text, including 'british' (uncapitalized), 'spanish' and 'french' (uncapitalized), 'froem' (from), and 'makin' (making). Word choice inaccuracies, such as 'German remain unchanged' (instead of remains), slightly impede smooth reading, though communication is generally maintained.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting comparative and dependent clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and articles. Examples include 'The pie chart compare' (compares), 'the largest group was student' (students), 'the percentage of student who speak' (speaks/spoke), and 'German remain unchanged' (remains). Punctuation and capitalization errors are also present. These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a limited range of reliable structures.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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