Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-06

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below shows what Anthropology graduates from one university did after finishing their undergraduate degree course. The table shows the salaries of the anthropologists in work after five years.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparison where relevant.

Student answer (Band 5.0)

The pie chart illustrates the anthropology graduates from one university did after completing their college degree. The table below the pie chart shows the earnings of them. The fifty-two percent of total graduates are working full-time now. The five percent of them are doing part-time work along with postgrad study. The eight percent of students are now doing full-time postgrad study. The eight percent of total are working part-time, and twelve percent are unemployed right now. The table displays their salaries after 5 years of work. The forty percent of freelance consultant make more than 75000$. The fifty percent of government sector employees are generating more than 1 million dollars. While five percent of them hardly make up to 49,999$. The 10 to 40% of students who are employing in private sectors are generating from 25000$ to 99,999$ while just thirty percent of them are earning more than a million dollar

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers all parts of the task by summarizing the pie chart and the table. However, the reporting of data is mechanical and lacks a clear overview or synthesis of the main trends. For instance, the response lists percentages individually (e.g., 'The fifty-two percent of total graduates...') rather than grouping them to highlight significant features. Furthermore, the interpretation of the table data is problematic; the student states that 50% of government employees earn over $1 million, which is a misreading of the provided data. The lack of a clear summary and the inaccurate reporting of figures prevent this from reaching a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into two distinct paragraphs, which is appropriate for this task. However, the progression of ideas is repetitive and lacks cohesive devices. Most sentences begin with 'The [number] percent of...', which creates a monotonous structure. There is a lack of linking words to connect the data points or contrast the different categories. While the information is generally easy to follow, the reliance on simple, repetitive sentence structures means that cohesion is mechanical rather than fluid.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and repetitive. The student relies heavily on basic verbs like 'make', 'generating', and 'earning' to describe salary data. There is little attempt to use academic or precise terminology to describe trends or data distribution. Some phrasing is awkward, such as 'students who are employing in private sectors' (should be 'employed'). While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the basic meaning, it lacks the range and precision required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response uses simple sentence structures almost exclusively. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles (e.g., 'The fifty-two percent of total graduates') and prepositional usage. The placement of the dollar sign after the number (e.g., '75000$') is also non-standard in English academic writing. While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of complex structures and the persistence of basic grammatical errors limit the score. The writing would benefit from more varied sentence patterns and improved control over basic syntax.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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