Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-15

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 graph depicts the information about the visitors who visit a particular destination, which is the Caribbean island in the years of 2010 and 2017.

Overall, a gradual growth can be seen in visitors who preferred staying on cruise ship, however a stable trend being followed by tourists who staying on the island. Whereas, a significant increase was noticed in the total.

In the year of 2010, people who begin to stay on cruise ship used to be around 0.3 millions, which followed a steady rose in next year and reached up to 0.5 millions. It again fell to 0.3 and then continue to sharp grow till the end of 2017 and gain visitors around 2 millions.

Visitors who staying on island on the other hand was below the 1millions initially and no change can be seen until 2011.Furthermore, it accelerated in increase up to 1.5 millions in 2013 and stayed stable for next three years. After that a decline occurred and the visitors remained almost 1.2 millions. Eventually it again got 1.5 million visitors in 2017 after a minor fall.

Looking at total visitors in which a dramatical increase in visitors can be seen. While it used to be one millions at the beginning with a gradual growth it reached 2.5 million in the year 2014. Then after 2016 in rose considerably and visitors become 3.5 million in the year of 2017.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all key features of the graph, including the trends for cruise ship visitors, island stayers, and the total. You successfully identified the main trends and made relevant comparisons between the categories. However, the overview is slightly weak; while you mention a 'gradual growth' and 'stable trend', it lacks a clear summary of the most significant overall change (the total increase). Additionally, some data points are described with slight inaccuracies, such as the claim that island visitors remained 'stable for next three years' when the graph shows fluctuations. To reach a higher band, ensure that the overview highlights the most striking differences and that all data points are reported with greater precision.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'Whereas', 'In the year of 2010', and 'Furthermore' to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally interrupted by awkward phrasing and mechanical transitions. For example, the transition 'Looking at total visitors in which a dramatical increase...' is grammatically clunky and disrupts the logical progression. The use of referencing is sometimes unclear, making it difficult to follow the relationship between sentences. Improving the variety and naturalness of your linking words will help the text flow more smoothly.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'gradual growth', 'significant increase', and 'accelerated'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and non-standard collocations, such as 'steady rose' (should be 'steady rise'), 'dramatical increase' (should be 'dramatic increase'), and 'gain visitors around' (should be 'reached around'). These errors do not impede communication, but they indicate a lack of precision. To improve, focus on learning the correct word forms (nouns vs. verbs) and common collocations used to describe trends in data, such as 'a sharp rise' or 'a significant decline'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with verb tenses and subject-verb agreement. Examples include 'people who begin to stay' (should be 'began'), 'visitors who staying' (should be 'visitors who stayed'), and 'it again got 1.5 million' (should be 'reached'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing spaces after commas and periods. These errors are frequent, though they rarely prevent the reader from understanding the intended meaning. To improve, focus on consistent tense usage when describing past data and proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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