Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-17

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 the proportion of people visiting the Caribbean island and their trend for using cruise ships or staying on island from 2010 and 2017.

Overall, the total number of visitors to caribbean island escalated constantly. The people staying on the island used to be a popular activity then followed by a decline but after a period it risen back. On the other hand, cruise ship trend was not that much popular at the start but eventually followed by an upward trend.

People staying on the island remained unchanged for a period till 2011. Afterwards, it raised and reached 1.5 million visitors at 2013. At the years from 2013 to 2015 it did not increased or decresed, infact followed by a downfall. It showed an upward rise and reached roughly 1.2 million in 2017.

In contrast, number of people attracted to use cruise ship was least choice in 2010. It followed a flutuating trend till 2013. Afterwards, it surged to 2 million people in 2017 and become the most famous choice.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the overall rise in total visitors and contrast the two accommodation groups, which gives the response a relevant overview. However, some key details are inaccurate or unclear: island-staying visitors reached about 1.5 million in 2013, remained there through 2015, fell to around 1.25 million in 2016, and recovered to 1.5 million in 2017—not roughly 1.2 million in 2017. The total also did not rise constantly, as it stayed level at about 2.75 million from 2015 to 2016. The cruise-ship figures are described broadly, but the early fluctuations and the point at which this group overtook island visitors could be reported more precisely. More accurate comparisons would strengthen coverage of the main features.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for visitors staying on the island and cruise-ship visitors. This makes the main categories easy to follow, and transitions such as “Overall,” “Afterwards,” and “In contrast” help signal relationships. However, some links are mechanical or unclear. For example, “At the years from 2013 to 2015 it did not increased or decresed, infact followed by a downfall” combines a stable period with a later decline without clearly locating that decline. The overview also repeats the same broad upward-trend idea rather than establishing a sharper comparison. Use time markers consistently and connect each change to its year to make progression more precise.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of trend vocabulary, including “remained unchanged,” “fluctuating,” “surged,” and “upward trend,” so the reader can understand the general movement. However, several choices are imprecise or unnatural for describing statistical data: “proportion” suggests percentages, “popular activity” and “most famous choice” do not accurately describe visitor numbers, and “people attracted to use cruise ship” is awkward. Spelling errors such as “flutuating,” “decresed,” and “infact” also reduce control. Aim for standard chart language such as “number of visitors,” “visitor category,” “rose,” and “accounted for,” and check spelling carefully. This would make the vocabulary more accurate and consistently appropriate to an academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, including contrastive structures such as “On the other hand” and “In contrast.” However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction are frequent enough to make some statements difficult to read. Examples include “it risen back,” “it did not increased or decresed,” and “reached 1.5 million visitors at 2013.” The sentence beginning “At the years from 2013 to 2015” also has an unclear grammatical structure. Practise past-tense reporting forms (“rose,” “remained,” “fell”), use “did not” with the base verb, and check prepositions for years (“in 2013”). More accurate control of these patterns would improve clarity.

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