Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
The graph illustrates the total number of tourists visiting a specific Caribbean island in eight years of timeline from 2010 to 2017. The visitors either stayed on cruise ships or on island.
Overall, the number of visitors reached at the peak over the time. Most of them tended to stay on cruise ships at that time.
The number of the visitors gradually increases from one millions to 3.5 millions over time. In 2010, people preferred staying on ships over on island, whereas they preferred more to stay on island in 2017. The line indicating visitors staying on island shows us the number rocketed from 2012 to 2017. There was no drop in number at that period. There was a little drop in number from 2011 to 2012. In case of visitors staying on island, the number stayed stable for one year. Then, people gradually started to stay on ships, therefore visitors increased. From 2013, the number of vistors remained still except the little drop in 2016.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 4.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response addresses the task only partially because the data is significantly misinterpreted in several places. For instance, the student states that 'people preferred staying on ships over on island' in 2010 when the reverse is true according to the graph, where island stays were higher (0.75m versus 0.25m). Additionally, the text contains contradictions and inaccuracies regarding trends, such as stating 'the number of visitors reached at the peak over the time' in the overview without specifying values, and claiming the line for visitors staying on the island 'rocketed from 2012 to 2017' with no drop, despite a visible decrease in 2016. While an attempt is made to present an overview and select main features, the lack of factual accuracy in reporting the data limits the development of the response, keeping it at a partial level of task completion.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5
The text demonstrates some organisation with an introduction, a brief overview, and a details paragraph, but there is no clear overall progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are frequently inadequate, inaccurate, or repetitive, such as the overuse of phrases like 'over time' and transitional words that fail to connect ideas logically (e.g., 'In case of visitors staying on island, the number stayed stable for one year'). Furthermore, paragraphing is underdeveloped, with the main body squeezed into a single, somewhat confused block of text where sentences jump back and forth between different data series without a clear structural plan. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, making it difficult for the reader to follow the intended comparisons between cruise ship visitors and island stayers.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate to convey the basic topic of tourism. The student attempts some less common vocabulary and descriptive verbs, such as 'gradually', 'stable', and 'rocketed', but these are accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice and collocation (e.g., 'eight years of timeline', 'reached at the peak', 'vistors'). Some phrasing is awkward, such as 'In case of visitors staying on island', which causes minor difficulty and hesitation for the reader. Spelling errors like 'vistors' also occur. To reach a higher band, the writer needs to expand their range of vocabulary and use terms with greater precision and fewer collocation errors.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writing exhibits a limited range of structures, relying primarily on simple sentences alongside a few attempts at complex forms that are frequently faulty. There are frequent grammatical errors in verb forms, articles, and prepositions within grammatical patterns, such as 'The number of the visitors', 'from one millions to 3.5 millions', and 'preferred more to stay'. Errors also appear in subject-verb agreement and prepositional use (e.g., 'over on island' instead of 'on the island'). While these errors do not completely obscure the intended meaning, they occur frequently enough to cause strain and difficulty for the reader, placing the grammatical control firmly at this level.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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