Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-21
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 demonstrates the number of tourists visiting a Caribbean island between year 2010 and 2017.
Overall, the graph represent rising trend of visitors from 2010 to 2017. The number of tourists staying on the cruise ships indicate fluctuation in earlier years but shows rising trend afterwards. The trend for the visitors staying on island stays quite stable all these years with some minor upward and downward trends.
Starting from 2010 trend line, majority of tourists preffer staying on island while only minor ratio was interested on staying on cruise ship. The graph line for staying on ship rose up in 2011 but then again went down in 2012. Afterwards the graph line for visitors staying on cruise ship gradually grew upward while surpassing the graph line of visitors staying on island in 2016. The trend line for people staying on island move upward in 2012 and then stays stable upto 2015. The gradual decrease in trend line of people visiting island can be observed in 2016 and 2017.
Hence the total number of visitors particularly increase but a major shift in preference can be observed usng the graph.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The student covers all parts of the task well, providing an overview of the main trends and reporting the key data points from the graph. The overall trend of rising visitor numbers is clearly identified, and comparisons are made between visitors staying on cruise ships and those staying on the island, such as noting that cruise ship visitors surpassed island-staying visitors in 2016. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in reading the precise data points (for example, the total number in 2010 was 1 million rather than just the separate categories being described, and some intermediate years show slight discrepancies compared to the source chart). Nevertheless, the main features are successfully highlighted and supported with relevant information.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into a clear introductory paragraph, an overview paragraph, body paragraphs detailing the trends, and a brief concluding sentence. Ideas are logically sequenced, moving from general trends to specific data comparisons. Cohesive devices are used throughout, such as 'Starting from 2010', 'Afterwards', and 'Hence', although some transitions feel a bit mechanical ('The trend line for people staying on island move upward...'). Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the overview from the detailed body points, ensuring overall coherence.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with appropriate topic-specific terms like 'tourists', 'cruise ships', 'fluctuation', and 'trend'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'preffer', 'minor ratio', and 'gradually grew upward', but there are noticeable spelling errors ('preffer', 'usng') and occasional awkward word choices ('minor ratio' instead of 'small proportion'). While the lexical range allows the message to be communicated clearly, these minor slips and limited flexibility prevent the response from achieving a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over structure. However, there are several grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and articles (e.g., 'The Line graph demonstrates', 'represent rising trend', 'trend line... move upward' instead of 'moves', and missing articles like 'on cruise ship'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while these errors are noticeable, they rarely impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the intended meaning without significant difficulty.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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