Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-11
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 given line graph presents the data on the total number of visitors of a Caribbean island, and compares the number of visitors staying on cruise ships or on island between 2010 and 2017.
Overall, the total number of visitors of island grew significantly over the period. While the number of visitors staying on island and on cruise ships also increased with some fluctuaions.
The number of island tourists was 1 million in 2010, which rose gradually to 2.8 millions in 2015. This figure remained steady for one year. After 2016 the number of visitors sharply increased by 1 million in 2017, reaching a total number of 3.5 millions.
Whereas, the number of people staying at cruise was 0.75 million in 2010, this figure was unchanged for one year. After 2011 this figure rose to 1.5 millions in 2013 and remained there for 3 years, after that the figure decreased to roughly 1.25 millions in 2016, before recovering to previous value in 2017. On the hand, the tourists staying at island rose to 0.5 million in first, then this value fell to 0.25 million in 2012. After that there was a significant increase in these number, the total number of people accomodating on island reached to 2 millions in 2017.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5
The response identifies the overall rise in total visitors and attempts to compare the two accommodation groups, but several central figures are assigned to the wrong series. For example, the account says island visitors rose from 1 million to 2.8 million, whereas the island-staying figure was about 0.75 million in 2010 and 1.5 million in 2017; 2.8 million is close to the total in 2015. The cruise-ship figures are also largely confused with the island series, and the final paragraph reverses their trends. This makes the report only minimally accurate despite its relevant topic and an overview. To improve, distinguish the three lines carefully, report the main overall pattern, and support it with a few correctly attributed comparisons.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs describing figures. This gives the reader some sense of organisation. However, progression is weakened because the two detailed paragraphs repeatedly switch or confuse which visitor group is being described, making comparisons difficult to follow. Linking expressions such as “Whereas,” “After that,” and “On the hand” are used, but some are inaccurate or do not clearly connect the ideas; “On the hand” also lacks “the other.” The overview’s second sentence is not a complete, well-integrated contrast. Grouping each series consistently and using clear references such as “the total,” “island visitors,” and “cruise-ship visitors” would make the progression more coherent.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The response uses some task-relevant vocabulary, including “total number,” “remained steady,” “increased,” and “reaching,” and the general meaning is usually recoverable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes obscuring the data: “visitors of island,” “staying at cruise,” and “the tourists staying at island” are not natural descriptions. “Accommodating on island” is also an unsuitable way to refer to visitors staying there. Spelling errors such as “fluctuaions” and “accomodating” further reduce control. Use precise, repeated labels—“visitors staying on the island” and “cruise-ship visitors”—and choose verbs such as “rose,” “fell,” and “levelled off” accurately.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
There is an attempt to use both simple statements and more complex clauses, for example, “which rose gradually…” and “before recovering…”. However, sentence control is uneven. The overview sentence beginning “While the number…” is a fragment, and “Whereas, the number…” is also not correctly joined to a main clause. Other errors include “the number of visitors of island,” “reached to a total number,” and inconsistent singular/plural forms in “2.8 millions.” Punctuation around introductory linkers is also unreliable. These problems do not make every sentence impossible to understand, but they limit accuracy and sometimes make relationships between ideas unclear. Practise complete clauses, correct article and preposition patterns, and consistent number forms.
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