Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-21

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 number of people in millions who visited a specific Caribbean island from 2010 t0 2017.

Overall, the total visitor number shows an upward trend throughout the period, whereas the figures of visitors who stayed on cruise ships and islands fluctuates over time while crossing over at one point.

The number of visitors staying on cruise ships remained same which is 0.75 million in the first year and between 2013 and 2015 it stayed contant in 1.5 million. Before 2013, there was a moderate increase from 0.75 to 1.5 million and after 2015, the number slightly dropped to 1.25 million.

In the case of visitors staying on island, though the starting point had a lower number, the finishing point depicts a significant rise reaching at its highest level, 2 million. This figure went down only in 2012 decreasing to 0.25 million from 0.5 million in 2011. After that, the number of visitors climbed upwards and crossed the number of visitors who stayed on the cruise ships in the middle of the years 2015 and 2016. Both of the numbers ended at 2 and 1.5 millions for visityors staying on cruise ships and island, respectively totaling 3.5 million.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the overall rise in total visitors and report several relevant figures, including the final total of 3.5 million. However, key details are repeatedly assigned to the wrong visitor group. The cruise-ship figure starts at 0.25 million, not 0.75, and rises to 2 million by 2017; it does not remain at 1.5 million from 2013 to 2015 or drop after that. The island-stay figure starts at 0.75 million and ends at 1.5 million, rather than reaching 2 million. The claim that the lines cross in 2015–16 is also inaccurate: cruise visitors do not overtake island visitors until 2017. These substantial misreadings leave the description only minimally accurate; check each series against the graph before selecting comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two detail paragraphs. This gives the reader a general route through the information, and phrases such as “Overall” and “In the case of” help signal shifts. However, the organisation of the details is weakened because the two visitor categories are repeatedly confused, making the progression difficult to follow. The overview also says the figures “fluctuates” and refers to a crossover without clearly identifying which series or when. Within the final paragraph, the sequence moves from the island’s endpoint to a 2012 decline and then to a crossover, which disrupts the timeline. Grouping each series accurately and describing its changes in chronological order would make the cohesion clearer and less dependent on linking phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “upward trend,” “moderate increase,” “climbed,” and “reaching at its highest level.” These choices show an attempt to describe movement rather than simply list figures. Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, however: “the total visitor number” is less natural than “the total number of visitors,” and “remained same” needs a more complete expression. There are also spelling errors, including “contant” and “visityors,” and “crossing over” is imprecise for describing two lines meeting or one series overtaking another. More precise trend language, used with accurate data, would improve clarity and control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including a contrast clause beginning “though” and a time clause beginning “After that.” Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical errors are noticeable. For example, “the figures … fluctuates” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “remained same” is missing an article or determiner. The sentence beginning “This figure went down only in 2012” has a confusing reference, and the final sentence is overloaded, making the relationship between the figures and the total less clear. There are also inconsistencies in singular and plural forms, such as “1.5 millions.” Aim for clearer sentence boundaries and check agreement, articles, and number forms; this will help your varied structures communicate the comparisons more accurately.

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