Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-03

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 illustration gives information about the tourist visiting a Caribbean island between 2010 and 2017. Overall, visitors stay on cruise ships reached the 2 million in year 2017 and it passed through different stages fell and rose and other who stayed on island had 1.5 million.

It is quite evident from the line graph which is between the Millions of years and years. Visitors staying on the cruise ships was 0.25 million and it increased with the passage of time with minor decreased during the year 2012, after that it rose dramatically and finally reached the 2 million in year 2017. The visitors who statying on the island started from the 0.8 million and remain constant for until year 2011 and then soared, it remain steady between the year 2023 to 2015, then it started numbers started fell and rose.

Furthermore, total numbers of visitors have the highest numbers and it commenced from 1 million and then surged until 2015 and then dipped and surged to 3.5 million in 2017.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response attempts to cover all parts of the task by outlining the data for visitors staying on cruise ships, those staying on the island, and the total figures. However, the development of ideas is limited and mechanical. While key trends are mentioned, such as the cruise ship visitors reaching two million in 2017, some data points are inaccurate or confusingly reported, such as claiming the island visitors remained steady between "year 2023 to 2015" (a typographical or logical error). The overview provided in the first paragraph is basic and lacks a clear summary of the overall trends. The response touches upon the main features but fails to fully extend or compare the data in a clear, well-supported manner, reflecting partial achievement of the task requirements.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response shows some organization with a paragraph structure separating the introduction, the body details, and the totals. However, there is no clear overall progression, and the logical flow is frequently disrupted. Cohesive devices are used mechanically or inaccurately, such as "after that", "and then", and "furthermore", which creates a repetitive narrative style rather than a smoothly connected analytical report. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as using "other who stayed on island" or mixing up timeframes and subjects. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal cohesion within sentences often breaks down, preventing the text from achieving a higher level of logical organization.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and barely adequate for the task. The student attempts some less common vocabulary, such as "dramatically", "soared", and "surged", but these attempts are often accompanied by inaccuracies in word choice, form, or collocation, such as "statying" (spelling/form), "numbers started fell" (grammatical word form error), and "minor decreased". Repetition of basic verbs and nouns is common throughout the response. While the meaning can generally be understood despite the noticeable errors, the lack of precision and limited lexical range restrict the score on this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The grammatical structures used are predominantly simple sentences with a limited range of complex attempts, which are frequently faulty. There are frequent errors in verb forms, tense consistency, and prepositions inside grammatical patterns, such as "visitors stay on cruise ships reached", "visitors staying on the cruise ships was... and it increased", and "remain constant for until year 2011". Punctuation and article usage are also problematic, with missing or incorrect articles like "the tourist visiting" and "the Millions of years and years". These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and demonstrate a lack of control over more complex sentence forms.

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