Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-11-03

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 chart illustrates the percentage of British Learners at one university in England who could speak an additional language other than English in the years 2000 and 2010.

Overall, people with no other language skills are increased. German language skill remained same . People with French and Spanish speaking skills are increased. Number of people with two other languages skills are doubled in the later year.

The year 2000 shows about 30 percent of people can not speak another language. People with another and French language skills are 15% each . Data shows the number of people with two languages skills and German only are 10% each.

Data chart from 2010 depicts an increase in the number of people which is a rise from 30% to 35%. People with skills of another language is increased from 15 to 20%. People with Spanish language skills are dropped almost double from 20% to 10%. However, no increase or decrease is found with people in German language skills which remained on 10%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the two years and report several key figures accurately, including the rise in “No Other Language” from 30% to 35%, the increase in “Another language” from 15% to 20%, and the fall in Spanish from 20% to 10%. However, the overview contains a significant contradiction: it says French and Spanish skills “are increased,” although both declined (French from 15% to 10%). The claim that two-language skills “are doubled” is also inaccurate; this category rose from 10% to 15%. French’s change is not reported in the detailed comparison, and the response does not clearly summarise the overall shift. More accurate coverage of all major categories and a reliable overview would make the report more complete and precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear basic structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for the two years. This gives the reader a workable route through the information, and transitions such as “Overall,” “However,” and “Data chart from 2010” signal relationships between points. Some progression is weakened by repeating figures already stated in the overview and by presenting the years separately rather than directly comparing categories. The final paragraph also omits the French figure, leaving the comparison incomplete. A more connected structure could group categories by trend—for example, languages that declined, increased, or stayed stable—and use clear references to link each comparison. This would make cohesion less repetitive and more effective.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing charts, including “percentage,” “remained,” “rise,” “dropped,” and “from … to …”. These choices make the main trends understandable. However, several phrases are awkward or imprecise, such as “people with … language skills,” “two languages skills,” and “the number of people which is a rise.” The repeated use of “people” and “skills” also limits the range, while “additional language” and “another language” could be used more consistently to distinguish the chart categories. Aim for accurate collocations such as “the proportion of students who spoke” and “the share able to speak two other languages.” More precise category labels would also help prevent confusion about what each percentage represents.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You produce a mix of simple statements and some more developed forms, including “However, no increase or decrease is found … which remained on 10%.” The main information is generally understandable, but errors in agreement, tense, articles, and sentence construction occur. For example, “people with no other language skills are increased” should use a past-tense change form, while “German language skill remained same” needs an article and a more natural construction. In “People with Spanish language skills are dropped,” the passive form is incorrect; use “the proportion … dropped.” There are also punctuation and spacing slips, such as the space before the full stop in “same .” Practise accurate past-tense reporting and vary sentence patterns while checking agreement and articles.

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