Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-14
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 illustrates the number of tourists visiting the Caribbean island including those staying on cruise ships and on the island between 2010 and 2017.
Overall, it can be seen that the visitors staying on cruise ships initially recorded the highest number whereas the number of visitors staying on the island was relatively low and overtook the number of people staying on ships at the end of the period.
The number of visitors staying on ships followed an upward trend with almost 0.3 million visitors in 2010, increased significantly to 0.5 million in 2011 before declining slightly to 0.3 and afterwards it went up steadily to 2 million at the end of the period, overtook the number of visitors staying on the island between 2015 and 2016.
However, the figure showing the number of visitors staying on ships fluctuated throughout the period. At beginning, it was 0.7 million, remained the same in the following year, rose substantially to 1.5 million in 2013, plateaued for the next two years. The number of visitors declined slightly to approximately 1.3 million before rising to 1.5 million at the end of the period.
The total figure showed an upward trend, rising from 1 million to 3.5 million by 2017.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 6.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 6.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The student makes a significant error in data interpretation throughout the response, confusing the categories for 'tourists staying on cruise ships' and 'tourists staying on the island' in paragraphs 3 and 4, and even contradicting themselves regarding which category overtook the other. While the introduction and overall overview are clear, the misrepresentation of the specific data points prevents the response from fully and accurately reporting the main features. According to the band descriptors, this places the performance at Band 5.0, as the response addresses the task only partially and contains noticeable inaccuracies in reporting the main trends due to confusion over the graph's categories.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response is organized into clear paragraphs, including an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs dedicated to different aspects of the graph. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall,' 'whereas,' and 'However,' to signal relationships between ideas. However, the logical progression and referencing become faulty in the body paragraphs because the student mixes up the subject matter of the categories, leading to confusion for the reader. Paragraphing is attempted appropriately, but the lack of accurate referencing between the categories and the data points keeps the score at Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 6.0
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items related to trends and changes, such as 'fluctuated,' 'plateaued,' 'substantially,' and 'upward trend.' However, there are notable inaccuracies in word choice and data reporting, such as stating '2 million at the end of the period' when describing a line that corresponds to different values, and confusing the two tourist groups. Spelling is generally accurate, but the lexical control is undermined by the data confusion. This aligns well with the Band 6.0 descriptor for lexical resource.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating relative clauses and participial phrases such as 'including those staying on cruise ships and on the island' and 'before declining slightly'. There are some grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'At beginning' (missing article) and run-on structures like 'increased significantly to 0.5 million in 2011 before declining slightly to 0.3 and afterwards it went up steadily...'. Nevertheless, these errors rarely impede overall communication of the grammatical forms themselves, placing this criterion solidly at Band 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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