Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-01

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)

There was a pie chart which illustrates the work which people do after finishing their undergraduate degree course. There are different types of work such as full-time, part-time, part-time + postgrad study, full-time postgrad study, unemployed and not known. A table which depict the salaries of anthropology graduates after having experience of 5 years.

There was around 52% of anthropology graduate which were manage to get full-time job. The full-time postgrad study and not known categories had a similar proportion about 8%. The proportion of unemployed and part-time work were 12% and 15% respectively. The graduates with part-time work with postgrad study were lesser than other graduates work. The salaries of graduates after completing 5 years in their work, freelance consultants and government sector had almost similar percentage in salary of people. Whereas, the private companies employees salary are more than other sector. But people having salary of $100,000+ was lesser in private companies than freelance consultants and government sector.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of both the chart and the table. You have identified the largest category (full-time work) and made some comparisons between the employment types and salary brackets. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial. For example, you mention that private company salaries are 'more than other sector' without specifying the actual figures or the clear trend shown in the table. Additionally, the description of the salary table is slightly inaccurate in its interpretation of the data, as it fails to clearly contrast the high-earning brackets across the three sectors. To improve, ensure you provide more precise data points and clearer comparisons between the categories.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into two paragraphs, which is a logical approach for this task. There is a clear introduction and a body paragraph. However, the progression of ideas within the second paragraph is somewhat disjointed. The transition between the pie chart data and the salary table is abrupt. While you use some cohesive devices like 'whereas' and 'but', the flow could be improved by using more sophisticated linking phrases to connect the two distinct data sets. Paragraphing is present, but the internal structure of the second paragraph feels a bit crowded with disparate facts.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision required for a higher band. You rely on basic descriptors such as 'lesser' and 'similar percentage'. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'were manage to get' and 'employees salary are more than other sector'. To reach a higher band, you should aim for more varied and precise terminology to describe trends and data, such as 'accounted for', 'the majority of', or 'a significant proportion'. Spelling is generally accurate, but the word choices are somewhat repetitive and lack academic tone.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include 'There was around 52% of anthropology graduate which were manage to get' (should be '52% of anthropology graduates who managed to get') and 'The salaries of graduates... had almost similar percentage' (should be 'The salaries... showed a similar distribution'). You rely heavily on simple sentence structures. While you attempt some complex structures, they are often marred by errors in subject-verb agreement and tense usage. Increasing the variety of sentence structures and focusing on basic grammatical accuracy will significantly improve your score.

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

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