Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-16
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 a Caribbean island between the year 2010 and 2017. Units are measured in millions.
Overall, the visitors staying on cruise ships rose despite the fluctuations. While visitors staying on the island also rose despite the fluctuations but stays same where it was before.
0.3 million visitors stayed on cruise ships in the year 2010 which was the lowest at that time. Likewise, 0.7 million visitors stayed on the island in the same year. When the number of visitors staying on cruise ships were at their lowest it rose to 1 millions visitor despite the fluctuations in the year 2014 and it gradually increase to 2 millions visitor by the year 2017 which was the highest.
On the other hand, the number of visitors staying on the island rose to 1.5 millions visitor in the year 2013 and stays same in the following year 2014 and 2015. However there were decrease in visitors in year 2016 but it again rose to 1.5 millions visitor by the year 2017. Lastly, the total number of visitors staying on both cruise ships and island rose from 1 millions visitor to 3.5 millions visitor by the year 2017.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making comparisons between visitors staying on cruise ships, those staying on the island, and the total figures. An overview is attempted, stating that both categories rose despite fluctuations, though the second sentence is grammatically confused ("stays same where it was before"). Key data points are correctly identified, such as the starting and ending figures and the peak in 2017. However, there are minor inaccuracies in reading the specific values (e.g., stating 0.3 instead of 0.25 for cruise ships in 2010, and 0.7 instead of 0.75). The information is generally well selected and covers the main trends effectively, positioning this response firmly within Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure separating the introduction, overview, and body paragraphs detailing the specific data. However, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or awkwardly used, such as starting paragraphs with abrupt transitions like "On the other hand" where a contrast is not strictly necessary. Referencing and progression are sometimes affected by awkward phrasing (e.g., "When the number of visitors staying on cruise ships were at their lowest it rose..."). Paragraphing is logical, separating the introduction, overview, cruise/overall trends, and island trends.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as "fluctuations," "gradually increase," and "total number of visitors." However, there are noticeable word-form and pluralization errors throughout the text, such as "1 millions visitor" instead of "1 million visitors" and "there were decrease" instead of "there was a decrease." Less common vocabulary is attempted with some inaccuracy, placing this response at Band 5.5 to 6.0. Given the repetition of basic errors with plurals, Band 6 is appropriate as communication is not impeded.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing subordinate clauses ("despite the fluctuations" and "When the number of visitors..."). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and plural forms (e.g., "number of visitors... were" instead of "was", "1 millions visitor", "stays same"). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but missing articles and incorrect verb forms detract from grammatical control. While complex structures are attempted, they are often faulty, keeping the score at Band 5.5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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