Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-03
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 rendered multi-line graph illustrates the number of visitors(in millions) visited a Caribbean island over the period from 2010 to 2017.
At a glance, it is apparent that a large number of visitors stayed on island over the period, but till the end of the period the number of visitors staying on cruise ships was higher, and total number of visitors increased over the period.
In detail, the number of visitors stayed on island was between 1 amd 0.5 million which remained for the next year. In 2012, it risen continuously to between 1 and 1.5 million and in next year it futher increased and stood at 1.5 million. The number of visitors stayed on island remained same till 2014. Then the figure decreased a little and again increased in 2017. And stood at 1.5 million
Moreover the visitors stayed on curise ship was between 0 to 0.5 million, and total number of visitors was 1million . However , the figure increased to 0.5 million in 2011. In 2013, the total number of visitors was two million, the figure was on 0.5 million before decreasing 2 between 0 and 0.5 million in 2012. Then the figure increased continuously till 2016, and the number of visitors was 1.5 million. The figure peaked in 2017 to 2 million, and total number of visitors was 3.5 million.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
You identify the overall rise in total visitors and note that cruise-ship numbers finish higher, which captures important features. However, the overview is not fully accurate: visitors staying on the island were higher than cruise-ship visitors in most years, with cruise visitors overtaking them only in 2017. Several details are also unclear or incorrect. For example, island visitors were about 0.75 million in both 2010 and 2011, not “between 1 and 0.5 million,” and the island figure stayed at 1.5 million through 2015 before dipping in 2016 and returning to 1.5 million. The cruise-ship account also confuses the sequence around 2012–2013. Select the main trends more precisely and report comparisons consistently.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response has a basic structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details, and time markers such as “In 2012” and “In 2013” help the reader follow the period. However, the progression is weakened by switching between the island and cruise-ship series without a clear organising principle. The second detail paragraph is especially difficult to follow: “the figure was on 0.5 million before decreasing 2 between 0 and 0.5 million in 2012” makes the sequence and referent unclear. Some linking words, including “Moreover” and “However,” do not clearly express the relationship between the information. Group each series in a separate paragraph, keep the years in order, and use explicit references such as “the cruise-ship figure.”
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You use relevant task vocabulary, including “visitors,” “increased,” “decreased,” “remained,” and “peaked,” so the main subject and direction of change are generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, such as “visitors stayed on island,” “the figure was on 0.5 million,” and “a large number of visitors stayed on island.” Spelling errors such as “amd,” “futher,” and “curise” also reduce accuracy. Use the chart’s category labels consistently—“visitors staying on the island” and “visitors staying on cruise ships”—and choose precise trend language, for example “stood at,” “rose to,” or “fell slightly.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
There are attempts to combine ideas and describe changes over time, but sentence structures are mostly simple, and errors recur in verb forms, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “the number of visitors stayed on island” needs a grammatical pattern such as “the number of visitors staying on the island,” while “it risen continuously” should be “it rose” or “it had risen.” The sentence beginning “Then the figure decreased a little and again increased in 2017. And stood at 1.5 million” is incomplete because the final clause has no subject. Punctuation and spacing are also inconsistent, as in “However ,”. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and join related clauses into complete sentences.
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