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 graph illustrates the number of tourists (in millions) visiting a particular Caribbean island between 2010 and 2017. The graphs represents the number for two group of people who vistied the island, people staying in island and tourists from cruise ships.

Overall, the number of tourists visting a particular Caribbean Island has grown significantly from 2010 to 2017.

In 2010, around 1 million tourists visited the island, however, after 2010 the tourist count increase significantly reaching to approximately 3.5 million tourists in 2017.

In 2010 and 2011, around 0.75 million people from local island visited the Caribbean island. Between 2011 and 2015 the tourists count experienced a steady growth leading to 1.5 million people tourists to visit Island. This number stayed consistent since 2013, except it faced a small drop in 2016.

Relatively, there were less number of people staying on cruise ships compared to the one staying on Island. Around 0.25 million people who were staying on cruise visited island, but each year the number keeps increasing each year. subsequently, there were around 2 million tourists recorded who visited island.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the chart’s subject and give a relevant overview: total visitor numbers rose from about 1 million to 3.5 million, while cruise-ship visitors increased overall. However, the account is only partly complete because it does not clearly compare the two groups across the period or report several key stages. For example, the island-staying figure rose from 0.75 million to 1.5 million by 2013, then remained broadly stable, but the description says growth continued until 2015 before noting that the figure was consistent “since 2013.” The cruise-ship trend also fluctuated early on, rather than increasing every year. Include the main turning points and make the group comparison more precise to develop the summary fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction and overview to separate descriptions of island-staying and cruise-ship visitors. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes unclear, and some linking is mechanical or imprecise. In the island-staying paragraph, “Between 2011 and 2015” is followed by “This number stayed consistent since 2013,” which makes the timeline difficult to follow. The final paragraph shifts to cruise visitors but ends with “subsequently,” without clearly connecting that figure to the preceding trend. Use clearer time markers and explicit comparisons, and ensure each paragraph develops one coherent sequence of changes.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant chart vocabulary such as “number of tourists,” “million,” “steady growth,” and “small drop,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce precision. Phrases such as “people from local island,” “the tourists count,” and “less number of people” are unnatural, while “visited island” is repeated without an article or a more precise alternative. There are also spelling errors, including “vistied” and “visting.” Aim for accurate, natural expressions such as “visitors staying on the island” and “the number of cruise-ship passengers,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, including a contrast with “however” and a relative clause in “people who were staying on cruise.” Nevertheless, errors occur frequently, and some sentence structures are faulty or difficult to follow. For example, “The graphs represents” has subject–verb disagreement, and “the tourist count increase significantly” uses the wrong verb form. Articles and plurals are also inconsistent in phrases such as “visited Island” and “two group of people.” The sentence beginning “In 2010, around 1 million tourists visited the island, however” joins two independent clauses incorrectly. Practise accurate past-tense reporting, agreement, articles, and punctuation, while keeping longer sentences controlled.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.