Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-02
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 illustrate the millions of visitors that visited a particular Caribbean island from 2010 to 2017.
In general, the population of visitors peaked for the later years reported. While, the people staying on island were subsequently higher than on cruise ships for the initial years, an upward trend for people preferring cruise ships was observed for the years later.
In 2010, the total tourists counted were just a million, encompassing nearly 0.3 and 0.7 millions from both cruise and people staying on island. For cruise ships, the numbers slightly increased to 0.5 million in 2011, whereas, for island visiors, the numbers has no change. In 2012, after a down shift in numbers, there was an enormous increase for the years after for the people staying on ships, which was recorded to 2 million. Consequently, visitors on island had a considerable increase for the years 2013 to 2015 with 1.5 million visitors. However, in 2016,there was a slight dip which was further recovered in 2017 and the numbers were now to the same levels of 2013.
Overall, total visitors that this tourist place attracted was 3.5 million. These numbers peaked after remaining stable for years 2015 and 2016, approx 2.7 million, which further increased sharply to 3.5 million in 2017.
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 response addresses all parts of the prompt by presenting an overview and reporting key features of the line graph, such as the peak in 2017 and the comparison between cruise ship visitors and those staying on the island. However, some parts are more fully developed than others, and certain details are slightly inaccurate or confusing, such as stating that visitor numbers 'has no change' in 2011 or misinterpreting the total figures at the end of the text. The overview successfully identifies the general upward trend and the peak in the later years, satisfying the core requirements of this criterion.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response maintains a coherent overall arrangement and attempts to structure the information logically with an introduction, body details, and an overall summary. However, paragraphing and logical progression are sometimes faulty. The transition between ideas can feel mechanical or abrupt, and referencing is not always clear, particularly in the final paragraph where the summary awkwardly restates data already covered. Cohesive devices such as 'while', 'whereas', and 'consequently' are used, but their management sometimes leads to slightly disjointed phrasing rather than a smooth progression throughout.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'encompassing', 'down shift', and 'considerable increase'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, form, and collocation, such as 'island visiors', 'numbers has no change', and 'further recovered'. Spelling and word-choice errors occur, but they do not impede communication, allowing the reader to grasp the main trends despite the occasional awkward lexical choice.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writing exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt at varied grammatical structures. There are, however, some errors in grammar, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation, such as 'The line graph illustrate' instead of 'illustrates', 'visitors that this tourist place attracted was' instead of 'were', and a missing space after a comma in '2016,there'. These errors are typical of a mixed level of control and rarely impede communication, as the intended meaning remains clear to the reader.
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