Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-08

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 given charts display the data about students of a university where learners can speak english and some other languages as well.

By looking at the chart we can see an increase in the percentage of the students who speak two other languages and another language in addition to english where it rose from 10% and 15 % in 2000 to 15% and 20% in 2010 respectively.

on the other hand, the percentage for students who speak french and spanish got reduce to 10% each in 2010 where it used to be 15% and 20% in 2000.however,the percentage for German speaking students along with english speaking remained same at 10%,Although there is a 5% increase in the number of students with no other language where it raised from 30% In 2000 to 35% in 2010.

Overall,there is a rise in the number of students who speak another language,two other languages and no other language.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You report the main changes accurately: Spanish falls from 20% to 10%, French from 15% to 10%, while German remains at 10%; the increases in the two-language, another-language and no-other-language groups are also correct. The final overview identifies the rising categories, but it would be more complete if it also highlighted the contrasting declines in Spanish and French and the unchanged German figure. The opening sentence is vague and does not clearly introduce the comparison between 2000 and 2010. Some details are compressed into one long sentence, making the comparisons less clear than they could be. A sharper overview and more clearly separated reporting of the key trends would make the response more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a generally understandable order: it introduces the charts, groups the increases, then contrasts them with the decreases and unchanged figure. Linking expressions such as “on the other hand,” “however,” and “Overall” help signal these relationships. However, the response is presented as one paragraph, so the overview and detailed comparisons are not clearly distinguished. Several transitions are also awkwardly attached to the preceding information, particularly “however” after the French and Spanish comparison. The final overview repeats some details rather than synthesising all the main patterns. Use separate paragraphs for the overview and supporting comparisons, and make each transition connect clearly to the point that follows.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant vocabulary for describing chart data, including “percentage,” “increase,” “remained same,” and “rose from,” so the main information is understandable. However, the range is limited and some expressions are imprecise or unnatural. For example, “the data about students … where learners can speak” does not clearly describe what the charts measure, and “got reduce” is an inaccurate word form and collocation. Repeated use of “percentage” and “students who speak” also makes the account less flexible. Choose concise chart language such as “the proportion of students,” “fell,” and “remained unchanged,” and use “additional languages” consistently to describe the categories.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a comparison joined with “where” and a clause beginning “Although.” The main trends can generally be followed, but some sentence structures are faulty or incomplete. In “the percentage for students who speak French and Spanish got reduce,” the verb form is incorrect; “it used to be 15% and 20%” also has an unclear reference. The final “Although” clause is attached to a complete sentence without a suitable structure, and punctuation is inconsistent, with missing spaces after full stops and commas. Practise forming clear comparison sentences with accurate past-tense verbs, and check clause connections and sentence boundaries during proofreading.

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