Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-22
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 5.0)
This graph illustrates the total number of people visiting a specific caribbean island between the years 2010 and 2017.
There were very small number of tourists who visited the island in 2010 but the number did gradually increase every year and in 2017 there were nearly 3.5 million people who came to the island .
Most of the people who came to explore the island prefered to book their stay in the island itself , while few of them prefered to stay on cruise ships. in 2012 , the number of tourists who stayed in cruises suddenly decreased and alot of them preferred to stay on the island. But, in 2015 there was a drastic change .in people choosing the stay .most of the people satrted preferring to accomodate in the cruise and very few members wanted to stay on the island. in 2017, there was a slight increase in visitors wanting to choose island for their stay but not many . Cruise ships were still in demand for the tourst accomodations.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student covers the main features of the graph well, accurately noting the overall upward trend in total visitors from 1 million in 2010 to 3.5 million in 2017. Key data points such as the initial figures and the final total are correctly identified. However, there are some inaccuracies in reporting the sub-categories: for instance, the text claims that in 2012 the number of tourists staying on cruises suddenly decreased, whereas the data shows it remained steady at 0.25 million, while island-stay visitors increased. Similarly, the description of the 2015 trend misinterprets the crossover between the two categories. Nevertheless, an overall progression and relevant comparisons between cruise and island visitors are attempted, placing this performance solidly at Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response presents a coherent overall arrangement, tracking the data chronologically and comparing categories. However, paragraphing is poorly handled, as the entire body of the response is crammed into a single block following the introduction. This makes the text look mechanical and difficult to navigate. Cohesive devices are used ('while', 'In 2012', 'But'), but referencing is occasionally unclear, such as 'drastic change .in people choosing the stay .most of the people...'. Progression is somewhat disjointed due to the lack of distinct paragraph breaks for different periods or categories. This warrants a Band 5.5, rounded to 5.0 due to the absence of proper paragraphing.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range to communicate the main features of the task, using terms like 'gradually increase', 'tourists', and 'cruise ships'. However, there are numerous lexical and spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'caribbean' (uncapitalized), 'prefered', 'alot', 'satrted', 'accomodate', and 'tourst'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with notable inaccuracy (e.g., 'accommodate in the cruise' instead of 'stay on the cruise'). These errors occasionally distract the reader, though they do not impede overall comprehension. This fits the Band 5 descriptor.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'Most of the people who came to explore the island prefered to book their stay in the island itself , while few of them prefered to stay on cruise ships.' However, control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are frequent punctuation errors, including missing spaces before periods, double spaces, and missing capitalisation at the beginning of sentences (e.g., 'in 2012', '.in people', '.most', '.in 2017'). Subject-verb agreement and prepositional usage also show lapses ('stay on the island' versus 'in the island'). These errors occur frequently enough to cause some difficulty for the reader, aligning with Band 5.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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