Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-02

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 presents the total number of visitors of a caribbean island from 2010 to 2017 where the number of tourists has been increased over the time.

Overall, visitors who has stayed on cruise ships are showing an increasing trend in the quantity where the numbers of visitors staying on island are in lower position then the ship staying visitors ([redacted phone]) but the tourists number has been increased over the year where the number was 1 million in 2010, the number has climbed up at 3.5 millions at 2017.

Ship based visitors was nearly .25 million in 2010 which has went up at .5 million in 2011 & then again .25 which subsequently started to rose from 2014. Finally in 2017 the number of visitors reached at 2 millions.

Island based tourist was nearly .75 million in 2010 which was greater then the visitors of ships. In 2011 the number stayed the same. After that it started to increase which has reached it's peak at 2013 (1.5 million). The quantity was same continiously from 2013 to 2015. Afterthat the tourist number of ship & island converge in between 2015 to 2016. Finally, in 2017 again the number of tourists reached it's highest point like as 2013.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the overall rise in total visitors, from 1 million in 2010 to 3.5 million in 2017, and describe the contrasting patterns for cruise-ship and island visitors. Several figures and trends are reported accurately, including the cruise-ship total reaching 2 million in 2017 and island visitors remaining at about 1.5 million from 2013 to 2015. However, the overview says island visitors were lower than cruise-ship visitors across 2010–2017, which is incorrect: island-based visitors were higher until 2015, and the cruise figure only overtook them in 2016. The claim that island visitors reached their peak in 2013 is also misleading, as the same level recurred in 2014, 2015 and 2017. Make the key comparison and turning point more precise.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for cruise-ship and island visitors. This makes the main categories easy to follow, and time markers such as “In 2011,” “After that,” and “Finally” help show sequence. However, some connections are unclear or mechanically expressed. For example, the overview combines the relative positions of the two visitor groups with the total trend in one long sentence, and “Afterthat” and “then” are not consistently separated or punctuated. The statement that the groups “converge in between 2015 to 2016” is also difficult to interpret. Use shorter, clearly focused sentences and link comparisons directly to the relevant years to make progression more precise.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing data, including “increasing trend,” “stayed the same,” “reached its peak,” and “converge.” These choices show an adequate range for the task, but several word-choice and collocation problems reduce precision. “The number of tourists has been increased” is not a natural way to describe a rising figure; use “the number increased” or “rose.” Similarly, “ship based visitors” and “island based tourist” are less natural than “cruise-ship visitors” and “visitors staying on the island.” Spelling and form errors such as “continiously” and “Afterthat” also affect accuracy. Aim for consistent, standard data-reporting phrases and check spelling before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, using time clauses and relative clauses, and the main meaning is generally understandable. However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction occur across the response. Examples include “visitors who has stayed,” “which has went up,” and “it started to rose”; these should use forms such as “who stayed,” “rose,” and “started to rise.” The comparison “lower position then” also needs a grammatical structure such as “lower than.” Some sentences are overloaded, particularly the overview, making relationships between ideas harder to follow. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and build complex sentences around one clear comparison at a time; this will improve control while retaining variety.

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