Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-04

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 total proportion of visitors(in millions) have evolved in the Caribbean island across 3 sectors — Visitors staying on the cruise ship, visitors staying on island, and total sum of tourists — between 2010 and 2017.

Overall, the data reveals a structural economic shift: Total number of visitor and showed an upward trend consistently, visitors staying on island showed a similar treand, meanwhile visitors staying on cruise ship showed a downward trend.

In 2010, total number of vistiors was 1 million, followed by visitors staying island which was around 0.75 million before falling to 1.5 million in 2017. Convesely, The amout of travellers staying on cruise ships started with the amout of around 0.2 million (people) but surged dramatically after 2012, reaching 2 million — an eightfold incease.

the trend underscores a pronounced transition from people favour to stay cruise ships to shifting their preference to staying on the island.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the task only partially and contains notable data misinterpretations. While the student attempts to report the main features of the graph, several statements contradict the visual data. For example, the student claims that visitors staying on the island fell to 1.5 million in 2017, whereas the chart shows this figure remained relatively stable or started at 0.75 million and fluctuated. Furthermore, the final summary statement completely reverses the actual trend, stating there was a transition towards staying on the island when the data clearly shows island stays remained flat while cruise ship numbers surged. The overview is confused by inaccurate trend tracking, keeping the response at this band level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates some logical organisation with a clear introduction and body paragraphs, but overall progression is hindered by confusing contradictions. Cohesive devices are attempted, such as 'Overall,' 'In 2010,' and 'Convesely,' but some are mechanically applied or misspelled. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and the paragraphing structure, while visually present, lacks the seamless logical flow required for higher bands due to the confusing analysis of the trends.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task, featuring attempts at less common items such as 'structural economic shift,' 'surged dramatically,' and 'eightfold incease.' However, there are noticeable spelling errors ('treand,' 'Convesely,' 'amout,' 'incease') and awkward word choices or collocations ('total proportion of visitors', 'people favour to stay cruise ships'). These lexical slips and inaccuracies occasionally cause difficulty for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a limited range of structures, attempting some complex sentences that are often faulty. There are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, including missing articles ('Total number of visitor', 'staying island'), incorrect prepositions ('favour to stay cruise ships'), and poor punctuation control (such as lowercase beginnings to sentences in the final paragraph). These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a restricted control over grammatical forms.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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