Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-26
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 given data illustrates the amount of tourists across the Caribbean island in the surveyed time period of 7 years.
Overall, it is immediately noticed that there is a pronounced upward trajectory in the total average of visitors and has maintained the most dominant position. The visitors staying on island exhibited a substantial decline. The tourists travelling through cruise ship have notably increased.
Directing attention towards the total amount of tourists, there has been a gradual growth marked over the years attaining its peak in 2017 at 3.5 million. Conversely, the visitors staying on islands has shown marginal fluctuation leading to a significant surge to 1.5 million visitors in the year of 2017.
Lastly, the preference for staying on a cruise has been notably rose over the years and after plummeting and hitting the rock bottom of somewhere between 0-0.5 million in 2012 and then rising to the top at 2 million in 2017.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the graph, including the total number of tourists and the two sub-categories. However, there are significant inaccuracies in the data reporting. For instance, you state that visitors staying on the island showed a 'significant surge to 1.5 million' in 2017, whereas the graph indicates this figure remained relatively stable or declined compared to the total. Additionally, the description of the cruise ship data as 'hitting rock bottom' is imprecise for an academic report. While you have identified the trends, the lack of precision in data interpretation prevents a higher score. Ensure that your descriptions of the figures are strictly supported by the visual evidence provided.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Conversely' and 'Lastly' to transition between ideas. However, the flow is occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing, such as the transition between the overview and the body paragraphs. The referencing is generally clear, but the logical progression within the third paragraph is slightly disjointed due to the way the data points are linked. Improving the variety of cohesive devices and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the overall coherence of the response.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'pronounced upward trajectory', 'marginal fluctuation', and 'significant surge'. However, there are some instances of imprecise word choice and collocation errors, such as 'notably rose' (should be 'notably risen') and 'hitting the rock bottom', which is too informal for an Academic Task 1 report. To improve, focus on using more precise academic collocations and avoid idiomatic expressions that do not fit the formal tone required for describing statistical data.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader, such as 'the amount of tourists' (should be 'number of tourists'), 'staying on island' (missing article), and 'has been notably rose' (incorrect verb tense/passive voice). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur frequently enough to limit the score. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of passive voice when describing trends, as well as ensuring articles are used correctly with nouns.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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