Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-19

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 5.5)

The chart depicts the students of a university started jobs after accomplishing their bachelors degree with the record of five years salaries shown in the table.

Overall, the full-time work is done by majority of the students, in contrast part-time work with post university student involved the smallest proportion of overall numbers. Moreover, 40% employers earned highest pay in the enrolment of consultation regarding Freelancing followed by 50% and 30% individuals from Government department and corporate businesses.

To begin with, 52% were accounted by 24 hours job members, half time employment by 15% pupils and 5% by those candidates who study after graduation and do employment as well. Furthermore, Only post degree study were adopted by 8%, from total 12% remained unemployed and 8% are those, who are unknown.

Moving towards salary packages, their is significant change in three domains such as Freelance consultants with 5% employers attain $25,000-49,999, $50,000-74,999 from 15%, $75,000-99,999 from 40% and more than one lac citizens get 40% in Freelancer consultancy, 50% from Non-private organisations and 30% from large businesses. In addition to this, the Freelancer and government both shared similar figures in all amounts with only change in $75,000-99,999 , which is given by a state approximately 30%. Along with that, profit earning communities give less than 50 thousands to 10% people, more than 70 thousands to 35%, and less than one lac to 25% group of companies.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of both the chart and the table. However, the reporting of data is often inaccurate or confusing. For example, the description of salary percentages is difficult to follow and does not clearly reflect the data provided. The summary of the chart is also slightly muddled, particularly in the second paragraph where the percentages for employment types are listed. While the main trends are identified, the lack of precision in reporting the figures prevents a higher score. To improve, ensure that data points are clearly linked to their respective categories and that the comparison between the different sectors is more logically structured.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader navigate the information. There is an attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'To begin with', and 'Furthermore'. However, the flow of ideas is sometimes hindered by awkward phrasing and mechanical transitions. The referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly when discussing the salary data, which makes it difficult to follow the comparison between the three sectors. The logical progression is present but often feels forced or disjointed due to the way the data is presented. Improving the variety of cohesive devices and ensuring they are used naturally would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but there are several instances of imprecise word choice and awkward collocations. For example, 'accomplishing their bachelors degree' is less natural than 'completing their undergraduate degree', and '24 hours job members' is an incorrect way to describe full-time employees. There are also issues with word forms, such as 'employers' being used instead of 'employees'. While the student attempts to use some topic-specific vocabulary, the errors in word choice and the repetition of certain terms limit the range. Focusing on accurate collocations and more precise terminology for data reporting would be beneficial.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Issues include subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'their is significant change'), incorrect preposition usage, and awkward sentence construction. For instance, '40% employers earned highest pay' is grammatically incorrect and confusing. Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly regarding the use of commas in lists. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of errors is high enough to cause some difficulty for the reader. More attention to basic sentence structure and proofreading for grammatical accuracy is required to reach a higher band.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.