Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-28
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 how the number of tourists who visited a particular Caribbean island changes from 2010 to 2017. Overall, it is clear that the total number of visitors increased significantly throughout the period. By the end of the timefram, there was higher number of tourists who remained on cruise ships than those who stayed on island, and only between 2015 and 2016, both figures were equal.
Vistors staying on island were cosistenly the most popular activity until 2015. In 2010, there was one million people on the island in total, which were divided into around 0,75 million tourists staying on island and approximately 0,25 million staying on cruise ships. This figure remained stable in those who staying on island untile 2011 before increasing gradually by further half million in 2013 and continued around this number untile 2015. Similarly, rising in number of people who staying on cruise ships to 0.5 million in 2011, dropping by 0,25 million in 2012, before experiencing a rapid growth to about 1,25 million in 2015. Meanwhile, the total number of vistors rose substantially from around 1.25 million in 2011 to 2,75 million in 2015.
However, this trend revesed after 2015, where people preferred to stay on cruise ships, their number rising rapidly until it reached a peak of 2 million in 2017, overtooking the number of tourist who staying on island in around mid of 2015. In contrast, a small fall in number of tourist staying on island to around 1,25 million in 2016, recovering to 1,5 million in 2017. Meanwhile, the total number of Caribbean island stayed the same at approximately 2,75 million from 2015 to 2016 before rising sharply to reach a peak of 3,5 million by 2017.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The student covers all parts of the task well, providing a clear overview and reporting the main features, trends, and comparisons across the two categories (cruise ships vs. island stay) and the total. Key milestones are identified, such as the overall upward trajectory, the crossover point around 2015, and the peaks in 2017. However, there are a few minor inaccuracies in data reporting; for instance, the student states that 'only between 2015 and 2016, both figures were equal', whereas the visual data shows that visitors staying on the island (1.5m) and cruise ship passengers (1.5m) were equal in 2013 and 2014 as well. Despite this minor misreading, the main trends are adequately captured and supported with relevant figures.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introductory paragraph containing an overview, followed by body paragraphs that break down the timeline chronologically (up to 2015 and post-2015). Paragraphing is used appropriately. Cohesive devices are utilized to connect ideas, though some are used awkwardly or repetitively (e.g., 'Meanwhile, the total number of Caribbean island stayed the same'). Referencing is mostly clear, though occasional awkward phrasing affects the flow of ideas between sentences.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student attempts a range of vocabulary suitable for a Task 1 response, including terms like 'significantly', 'gradually', 'substantially', and 'peak'. However, there are numerous lexical and spelling inaccuracies throughout the text, such as 'timefram' (timeframe), 'cosistenly' (consistently), 'untile' (until), 'rising in number' (rise in the number), and 'overtaking' written as 'overtoking' or 'overtoking'. Additionally, phrases like 'visitors staying on island were cosistenly the most popular activity' reflect unnatural collocations, as staying on an island is not an 'activity'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'while people preferred to stay on cruise ships, their number rising rapidly...'). However, grammatical errors are frequent. Examples include tense inconsistencies ('changes' instead of 'changed'), missing articles ('stayed on island' instead of 'stayed on the island'), faulty participle clauses ('rising in number of people who staying'), and preposition errors ('total number of Caribbean island'). While these errors do not completely obscure meaning, they occur regularly and lower the overall accuracy of the writing.
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