Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-06

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 shows the number of tourists visiting a particular Caribbean island between the years 2010 and 2017.

Overall, the total number of tourist has been increased steadily over the years from 1 million in 2010 to 3.5 million in 2017. Visitors staying on cruise and staying on island are showing the opposite trend over the years but there is a rise in both after 2016.

In 2010, 0.25 million tourists stayed on cruise ships which rose to 0.5 million, fell again to the same number as 2010, but then rose consistently over the years to 2 million till 2017.

Visitors staying on island shows a different trend , it remained stable from 2010 to 2011 at 0.75 million, then increased to 1.5 million over the two years , then remained consitent till 2015, had a bit of fall till 2016 but then went upwards in 2017.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

Please note that the length requirement is NOT met, as the response contains 137 words, falling short of the 150-word minimum (with 11 words copied from the prompt uncounted). Regarding the content, you successfully address all parts of the task by providing an overview and reporting the main trends and data points from the line graph. You note the overall increase in total visitors and correctly trace the movements of cruise ship and island-staying tourists. However, some parts of your response are under-developed or imprecise; for instance, describing the fluctuations in cruise ship visitors lacks precise referencing for every intermediate year, and your overview could synthesize the contrasting trends more sharply to reach a higher level of development.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

Your response has a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical structure, beginning with an introduction, moving to an overview, and then detailing the specific data for each category in separate paragraphs. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, transitional phrases between sentences can feel abrupt, such as jumping straight into numbers without smoother linking devices, and referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in phrases like 'the same number as 2010'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the physical layout and organization of ideas could be more cohesive and balanced to ensure a smoother progression throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'line graph', 'tourists', 'trend', and 'stable'. You make attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'consistently', 'fluctuations' (implied), and 'opposite trend', but there is some inaccuracy in word choice and collocation, such as writing 'visitors staying on cruise' instead of 'cruise ship passengers' or 'tourists staying on cruise ships', and misspelling 'consitent'. These minor lexical errors and awkward phrasing do not impede communication, but they restrict your score because the range and precision of vocabulary remain at a functional level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures like 'The line graph shows that...' and 'Visitors staying on island shows a different trend, it remained stable...'. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('the total number of tourist has been increased' instead of 'has increased', and 'Visitors staying on island shows' instead of 'show'), run-on comma splices ('different trend , it remained stable'), and missing pluralization ('tourist' instead of 'tourists'). Fortunately, these errors rarely impede communication and your sentence boundaries are generally understandable, representing a solid mix of basic and attempted complex patterns.

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

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