Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-18

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 illustrate the distribution of british students in a university in England who were able to speak more languages in addition to English in 2000 and 2010.

Overall, the students with no other anguage profeciensy shares the largest proportion, whereas students speaking geraman only accounted for the smallest shares in both years.

In 2000, 30% of students speaks only English language, followed by 20% students speaking Spanish in addition to English. In contrast, only 10% of students able to speak German languages and two other languages each, while 15% of the studnts can speak French and other two languages each apart from English.

By 2010, students speaking only English rose by 5 percentage point to 35%, becoming the largest figures, whereas Students speaking Spanish decreased considerably to 10% Representing the smallest share along with French and German languages. The proportion of studnets speaking another languages apart from english rose by 5 percentage points to 20%, representing the second largest share in 2010 in the chart.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You provide a relevant overview and report several key figures accurately: no other language rises from 30% to 35%, Spanish falls from 20% to 10%, and “another language” increases from 15% to 20%. The response also compares the two years and covers the main categories. However, the overview incorrectly identifies German-only speakers as the smallest group in both years: in 2010, Spanish, French and German are all at 10%. Some details are also unclear, particularly “other two languages,” which appears to confuse the “two other languages” category with “another language.” To strengthen the report, describe that category precisely and make the overview’s comparisons fully accurate; some features are currently reported less clearly than others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a clear four-part structure: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph for each year. This gives the reader a generally coherent route through the information, and phrases such as “In contrast” and “By 2010” help signal comparisons and time changes. However, progression within the data paragraphs is not always smooth. The 2000 paragraph groups categories in a way that makes “other two languages” ambiguous, while the 2010 paragraph moves from the largest group to the smallest and then to another category without a consistent comparison pattern. Some linking is also mechanical. Organise each year’s figures in a consistent order, and use clearer references to distinguish “another language” from “two other languages.”

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some suitable chart-reporting vocabulary, including “distribution,” “proportion,” “decreased,” and “percentage points,” and these choices help communicate the main trends. However, the range and control are limited by repeated or inaccurate expressions. “Students speaking only English” is not a precise label for the chart’s “no other language” category, and “other two languages” does not clearly express “two other languages.” There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “angu age,” “profeciensy,” “geraman,” and “studnets,” as well as inconsistent capitalisation. These errors sometimes make the categories harder to interpret. Use the chart’s category labels consistently and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast clause beginning “whereas” and a time clause introduced by “By 2010.” The overall meaning is usually recoverable, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “30% of students speaks” has a subject–verb agreement problem, and “only 10% of students able to speak” is missing a finite verb. The phrase “the largest figures” also does not agree naturally with the singular idea of a proportion. Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent, particularly in “Students” and “10% Representing.” Review agreement with percentage subjects, ensure each clause has a complete verb, and punctuate sentence boundaries consistently.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.