Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-02
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 the Anthropology students who complete their graduation degree from one university. The table delineates the incomes of the anthropologists in work after five years.
Overall, the full-time work students maintained the most substantial proportion and post-graduation student faced contraction in its share.
The full-time work student has most dominant share of 52% and part-time work has 15% ratio from one university. In addition, unemployed student witnessed 3% declined from the part time work. The full-time postgraduates has same its proportion with the not known of 8%. Moreover, the lowest percentage is part-time + postgraduates study which is about 5% in its share.
Furthermore, the salaries of students after 5 years of work has accounted the 40% substantial amount for freelance consultants about $100,000+. In addition, government sector has highest incomes around 50% in $100,000+ category and declined about 5% in $25,000 terms. The private companies offer constant fraction around 10-30%.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of both the pie chart and the table. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial and contains inaccuracies in interpreting the data. For instance, the statement that 'unemployed student witnessed 3% declined from the part time work' is confusing and does not clearly explain the relationship between the categories. Furthermore, the description of the table data is problematic; the student attempts to describe percentages within the salary table, but the table actually shows the distribution of salary ranges across different sectors, not a simple percentage of the total. The overview is present but lacks clarity in summarizing the most significant trends, such as the high salary potential in the government sector.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the progression of ideas is often disjointed. The use of cohesive devices is mechanical and sometimes inappropriate, such as the use of 'In addition' and 'Moreover' to link sentences that do not logically follow one another. The referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly when discussing the table data, making it difficult for the reader to track which sector or salary range is being referenced. While the overall arrangement is coherent enough to be understood, the lack of sophisticated linking and clear logical flow limits the score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision. There are several instances of awkward word choices and collocations, such as 'complete their graduation degree' (instead of 'graduated'), 'most dominant share' (redundant), and 'witnessed 3% declined' (incorrect grammatical form). The student attempts to use some academic vocabulary, but these attempts are often imprecise or misused, such as 'contraction in its share' or 'constant fraction'. While the meaning is generally conveyed, the errors in word choice and the limited range of vocabulary prevent a higher score.
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. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('The full-time work student has most dominant share'), incorrect pluralization ('full-time work students'), and awkward phrasing ('has accounted the 40% substantial amount'). Punctuation is generally functional, but the sentence construction is often clunky, which occasionally impedes the flow of information. The student struggles with consistent tense usage and accurate prepositional phrases, which are necessary for describing statistical data effectively. These errors are noticeable but do not completely obscure the intended meaning.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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