Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-22

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 compare the percentage of British students who could speak languages other than English in 2000 and 2010. Overall, the percentage of students who could no other language is increased slightly and remained highest in both pie charts. French was the most common foreign language in 2000, its popularity fell in 2010.

First of all in 2000, 30% of students spoke no other language. French only accounted for 15%, making it most common spoken foreign language, followed by Spanish language by 20%. In 2000, German language and two other languages have equal percentage in spoking that are 10% for each.

By 2010, the percentage of spoken no oter language had risen to 35%, remaining the largest group. The figures of French, Spanish, and German only each dropped on 10%. However, students speaking another languages rose to 20% and those able to speak two other languages increased to 15%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main overall pattern: the no-other-language group was largest in both years and rose from 30% to 35%, while the shares speaking another language or two other languages increased. Most figures are accurately reported. However, the overview says French was the most common foreign language in 2000, although Spanish was higher at 20% compared with French at 15%; this weakens the accuracy of a key comparison. The statement that French, Spanish and German “each dropped on 10%” is also unclear: German stayed at 10%, while French and Spanish fell to 10%. To strengthen the response, give a precise overview and distinguish unchanged figures from decreases, while covering the main changes consistently.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear basic structure: an introduction and overview, followed by a paragraph about 2000 and one about 2010. Time markers such as “First of all in 2000” and “By 2010” help readers follow the comparison, and the information is generally presented in a sensible order. However, some linking and referencing are mechanical or unclear. For example, “its popularity” does not clearly support the inaccurate claim about French, and “The figures of French, Spanish, and German only each dropped” groups together categories that changed differently. Improve progression by organising the overview around the main increases and decreases, then use precise comparisons within each year rather than relying mainly on time-based transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “percentage,” “accounted for,” “followed by,” “remaining the largest group,” and “increased.” This gives you enough language to communicate the main data. However, several word choices and forms are inaccurate or awkward, such as “could no other language,” “percentage of spoken no oter language,” and “another languages.” There are also spelling errors, including “spoking” and “oter,” which reduce precision. Aim for consistent, natural phrases such as “students who spoke no other language” and “the proportion speaking another language.” A wider range of accurate comparison language would also help you describe rises, falls, and unchanged figures more precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including the overview sentence joined with “and” and the clause “French was the most common foreign language in 2000, its popularity fell in 2010.” The meaning is usually recoverable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. For example, “the percentage of students who could no other language is increased” has an incomplete verb pattern and an incorrect tense; “German language and two other languages have equal percentage” also has problems with articles, agreement, and tense. The sentence joining the two claims about French needs a clearer grammatical connection. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and patterns such as “the proportion of students who spoke…” while retaining your attempts at varied sentence structures.

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