Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-08-25

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 pie chart illustrates regarding the Anthropology pass-out's that what they did after completion of their Bachelor's degree. Whereas, the table depicts salary package of the undergraduates work after half decade.

Considering from an overall perspective, it can be comprehensively observed that half of the degree holders choose Full-time job, while the least has chosen part time work with master's study and majorly Government sector employs receive highest package, whilst least package got to private job students.

Taking pie-chart into consideration, nearly half of the student with proportion of 52% students like to do Full time work. Moreover, 15% undergraduates has turn to part-time work and 5% had chosen part-time job with postgraduate course. Noticeably, 8% proportion of student has choose full-time master degree, while other 8% students field is unknown and only 5% bachelor's degree holder are unemployed.

Furthermore, talking about salaries after 5 years of work of graduates. Salary around 25000$ to 49000$ package got to 5% of freelance consultant and Government sector employs and 10% to private sector. Whereas, 50000$ to 74999$ salary goes to Freelance and Government sector 15% and private sector 35%. Salary around 75000$ to 99000$ salary received by freelancer 40%, government sector 30% and 25% of private employs. Highest salary package of more than 1lakh dollars earn by government sector with 50% employs followed by 40% freelancer and 30% of private jobs employs.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all parts of the task, including the pie chart and the table. You have identified the main features, such as the high percentage of full-time workers and the salary trends in the government sector. However, the reporting of data is sometimes inaccurate or confusing. For example, you state that '50000$ to 74999$ salary goes to... private sector 35%', but the table shows different figures. Additionally, the phrasing 'Anthropology pass-out's' is informal and imprecise. To improve, ensure that data points are transcribed accurately and that you use more precise terminology when describing the categories.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. You use cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Furthermore', and 'Whereas' to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing and mechanical transitions. For instance, the transition 'Taking pie-chart into consideration' is slightly unnatural. The referencing is generally clear, but the progression of ideas within the second body paragraph is somewhat cluttered due to the density of the data being presented. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would enhance the coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'undergraduates', 'proportion', and 'freelance consultant'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and non-standard collocations, such as 'Anthropology pass-out's', 'salary package of the undergraduates work', and 'employs' used as a noun instead of 'employees'. These errors occasionally impede the professional tone required for an academic report. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise academic vocabulary and ensuring that nouns and verbs are used in their correct forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., '15% undergraduates has turn', '8% proportion of student has choose') and article usage. Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence structure is sometimes repetitive. The errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, but they are noticeable throughout the text. Focusing on consistent subject-verb agreement and refining the use of articles will help improve your grammatical accuracy.

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

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