Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-24

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 illustrates and compares the number of students in England who were able to speak foreign languages apart from their mother language such as french , german , spanish and 3 other languages in 2000 and 2010.

Overall, we can see that in 10 years, there was a slight incease in 5 % of students unable to learn a new language . 30% and 35 % of british students were unable to speak a different foreign language in 2000 and 2010 respectively.

In the year 2000, 15% of british students spoke french ,10% spoke german ,15% spoke german only ,20% spoke spanish only and a total of 25% spoke 3 different foreign languages.

Futhermore, 10 years later 20% of the students were speaking both french and spanish ,10% speaking german only and a total of 35% speaking 3 other languages. Meanwhile the 35 % of the students did not learn a new language at all.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the two years and give an overview of the rise in the proportion speaking no other language, correctly reporting 30% in 2000 and 35% in 2010. However, several key figures are misreported, which limits the accuracy and coverage of the summary. In 2000, French was 15%, German only 10%, and Spanish 20%; your account incorrectly gives German as both 10% and 15%. The chart does not show students speaking three other languages: “another language” and “two other languages” are separate categories. In 2010, those categories were 20% and 15%, while French and Spanish were 10% each, not 20% combined. Select the main categories carefully and compare their actual changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overall statement, and separate paragraphs for 2000 and 2010. This gives the reader a basic route through the information, and transitions such as “Overall” and “Furthermore” help signal movement between points. However, the progression within the data paragraphs is not always clear, and the final sentence repeats the no-language figure already given in the overview. “Meanwhile” does not establish a clear contrast in that context, while the repeated use of “a total of” makes the comparisons feel mechanical. Grouping the categories that increased, decreased, or stayed unchanged would create a more logical comparison across the two years and reduce repetition.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “illustrates,” “compares,” “respectively,” and “spoke,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, word choice and collocation are often imprecise: “number of students” is unsuitable when the chart reports proportions, and “unable to learn a new language” changes the meaning of “no other language.” The phrase “speaking both french and spanish” also suggests a combined category that the chart does not show. Spelling and capitalisation errors, including “incease,” “Futhermore,” and lower-case language names, reduce accuracy. Use precise chart language such as “proportion,” “accounted for,” and “could speak,” and name each category exactly as presented.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and more developed sentences, including “30% and 35% of British students were unable to speak…” and “In the year 2000, 15%…”. Most of the intended meaning can be followed, but some sentence structures and grammatical patterns are not controlled consistently. The opening sentence is awkwardly constructed, and the final paragraph contains a fragment-like sequence: “10% speaking German only and a total of 35% speaking…”. Maintain a clear subject and finite verb in each sentence, for example, “A further 10% spoke German only.” Punctuation spacing is also inconsistent, and the long opening list would be clearer as a concise, complete sentence. More accurate sentence construction would make the comparisons easier to understand.

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