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 pie charts compare the percentage of the ability to speak other languages with English among British university students in England between 2000 and 2010.

Overall, the percentage of students able to speak two other languages, another languages and no other language increased, while French, and Spanish decreased. It is important to note that, the proportions for german is stable in the both years.

In 2000, most of the students don't knew others language which was nealry 30%, the 20% peopole knew Spanish and the percentage for French and another language were same at 15%. Finally, only 10% people knew two other languages and German.

After one decade, the most of the people stilol did not know other langugae which was 35%, the second position now for another languae at 20%. The students who know Spanish, French and German are same 10% each. The students who know two others language rose to 15% in 2010.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main overall changes: the shares for students speaking another language or two other languages, and those speaking no other language, rose, while Spanish and French fell; German remained unchanged. Most figures are reported accurately, including the 30% and 35% with no other language and the 20% to 10% fall for Spanish. This gives the response a relevant overview and covers both years. However, some details are unclear or imprecise: “most of the students don't knew others language” does not clearly convey that this group could speak no additional language, and the overview’s “another languages” is grammatically unclear. Make the comparisons more explicit and consistently describe each category as a proportion of students to develop the key features more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear four-part structure: an introduction, an overview, and one paragraph for each year. The sequence from the overall trends to the 2000 and 2010 figures is easy to follow, and markers such as “Overall,” “In 2000,” and “After one decade” help orient the reader. Cohesion is less successful within some sentences, however. “Finally” does not clearly signal a meaningful final comparison, and “the second position now for another language” leaves the relationship between categories awkwardly expressed. The overview also groups several changes together without consistently distinguishing the categories. Use straightforward comparison links such as “whereas” and “by contrast,” and make each sentence’s subject explicit to improve flow and reference.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “percentage,” “proportions,” “increased,” “decreased,” and “stable,” so the main trends can generally be understood. However, the range and control are limited by repeated, imprecise phrases such as “knew other language” and “people knew Spanish,” which do not accurately describe language ability in a formal report. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “nealry,” “peopole,” “stilol,” and “langugae,” and some awkward collocations such as “the second position now for another language.” Choose precise reporting terms and check spelling carefully; this will make the account more natural and reduce the effort required to understand it.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and more developed sentences, including the overview’s contrast between categories and the sentence beginning “In 2000.” The basic meaning is usually recoverable, but errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction are noticeable. For example, “students don't knew” combines incompatible verb forms, while “the percentage for French and another language were same” has a subject–verb agreement problem and is missing an article. “It is important to note that, the proportions…” also uses punctuation incorrectly. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and singular/plural agreement, and build comparisons with complete, controlled clauses. More reliable sentence patterns would allow your range to support rather than obscure the data.

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.