Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-10

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below shows the number of tourists visiting a particular Caribbean island between 2010 and 2017.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The line chart tracks the number of who visit a Caribbean islands from 2010 to 2017. It is measured in millions.

Overall, the visitors staying on cruise ship were increased slightly over the period. The visitors staying on island decease gradually. However, total visitors had rise sharply throughout period.

In 2010 , the visitors prefer to staying in island increase around 0.7 million compared to staying in cruise ship under 0.3 million, then total number of people staying around 1 million. After there years, staying island rise at 1.5 million in 2013 , staying in cruise ship 0.5 million. The total amount people also increase around 2 million.

After four two, staying in island slightly drops undre 1.1 milion and staying cruise ship increase 1.5 million . Thus Total visitors are around 2.7 million .The visitors staying on island fall sharply around 1.5 million in 2017, but visitors staying in cruise ship rose gradually around 2 million respectively. However, the total number tourists grew radiply around 3.5 million.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the chart’s subject and period, and your overview correctly notes that total visitor numbers rose overall. You also select relevant figures, including about 1 million in 2010, 2 million in 2013 and 3.5 million in 2017. However, some key trends are misreported: visitors staying on the island generally increased from about 0.75 million to 1.5 million, rather than decreasing, and the 2017 figure did not represent a sharp fall. The 2016 island figure was about 1.25 million, not under 1.1 million. Your account includes the main categories, but these inaccuracies and the limited comparison of how cruise-ship visitors drove later growth leave some features unclear. Check each series separately before summarising its trend.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and two paragraphs with selected data. This gives the reader a coherent overall arrangement, and time references such as “In 2010” and “in 2013” help establish sequence. However, the progression becomes difficult to follow in places. “After there years” and “After four two” do not clearly identify the years being discussed, while “However” is used where the relationship is not a contrast. The final paragraph also moves between island visitors, cruise-ship visitors and totals without consistently signalling the comparisons. Use clear year groupings and link each figure to its category; reserve contrast markers for genuine contrasts.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “visitors,” “total,” “increase,” “drops” and “rose,” so the main subject is generally understandable. However, the range and control are limited, with repeated use of basic terms such as “visitors” and “increase,” and several inaccurate or awkward expressions. For example, “the visitors prefer to staying” is not a natural way to describe the chart, and “the total amount people” is unclear. Spelling errors such as “undre,” “milion” and “radiply” also reduce precision. Build a small set of accurate trend and comparison phrases, and check spelling and collocations before finishing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, and the overall meaning can usually be recovered. However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence construction occur across the response. Examples include “who visit” instead of a correctly formed relative clause, “were increased” and “had rise,” and “The visitors staying on island decease.” The phrase “After there years” also shows difficulty forming a clear time expression. These problems sometimes make the relationships between figures harder to understand, particularly in the longer final paragraph. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and subject–verb agreement, and use shorter, controlled sentences when comparing the three series.

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