Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-15
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 charts represent the proportions of England one university students that speak other languages in addition to English in the period 2000 to 2010,It is evident that the the majority of the students speak at least one other language.French and spanish seems to be the most spoken after English.
Spanish language speakers has noticably decreased from 20 in 2000 to 10 % in 2010 similarily to french speakers number that degraded from 15 to 10% in the same period.German only speakers stayed constant throughout the period .
While the speakers of specific languages decreased it is illustrated that general multilingualism without specificating the language has been increased from 10 to 15 % for one language only and from 15 to 20 % for two languages speakers. The big part goes to only english speakers is 2000 wich rose in 2010 as well taking the most part of the students .
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
You identify the main direction of several changes: Spanish falls from 20% to 10%, French from 15% to 10%, German remains at 10%, and the “another language” category rises from 15% to 20%. However, the overview is not fully accurate: “the majority of the students speak at least one other language” overlooks that the no-other-language group is the largest single category in both years, rising from 30% to 35%. You also misreport the less specific categories: “one language only” rises from 10% to 15%, but this is two other languages; the 15% to 20% change is another language. The response is 142 words, below the 150-word minimum. Add a clearer overview and accurate comparisons to address the task more fully.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response has a recognisable overall sequence: an introduction and overview, followed by changes in language-specific categories and then the remaining groups. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, the final paragraph combines several categories and their figures in a way that makes the comparisons difficult to follow, particularly “from 10 to 15% for one language only and from 15 to 20% for two languages speakers.” The contrast introduced by “While” is also not clearly completed, and the overview is embedded in the opening rather than clearly separated. Use one paragraph for the overview and group the detailed comparisons by categories that rise, fall, or remain stable. Clearer references to each chart category would improve cohesion.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “proportions,” “decreased,” “stayed constant,” and “increased,” so the reader can understand the general subject and direction of change. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural: “degraded” does not describe a falling percentage, “the big part” is imprecise, and “multilingualism without specificating the language” is awkward. There are also spelling errors such as “noticably,” “similarily,” and “wich,” alongside inconsistent capitalisation of “Spanish” and “French.” Prefer precise category labels and standard reporting language, such as “the proportion speaking Spanish fell” and “the share reporting another language rose.” This would make the comparisons clearer and more appropriate for an academic report.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt some complex structures, for example “While the speakers of specific languages decreased…” and “Spanish language speakers has…,” but control is inconsistent. Errors in agreement and sentence construction occur in key comparisons: “speakers has” should be “speakers have” or, more naturally, “the proportion of Spanish speakers has”; “French and spanish seems” needs plural agreement; and “The big part … is 2000 wich rose” is difficult to interpret because the sentence structure and tense are faulty. Punctuation is also weak, with missing spaces after full stops and a comma splice in the opening. Use shorter, complete sentences with accurate subjects and verbs, then add a few controlled comparisons using “whereas” or “while.” Proofreading sentence boundaries and agreement would improve accuracy.
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