Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-17
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 proportion of Anthropology graduates' destination after completing thier course from University. The table chart depicts the number of salaries after five years of Anthropology graduates.
Overall, it is ckear the maximum time spent on full-time work by graduates, while majority of graduates spent on part-time work as compared to others like- Full-time postgrad study, part-time work with postgrad study.In contrast, the large number of government sector employes had the highest salry package as compared to private companies emlpoyees.
After the anthropology course 52% of graduates accounted for full-time work. Less than a fifth students did part-time job, while 12% degree holders remained unemployee. only 8% graduates who didnot provide any clue of their work status, whereas one in twenty graduates studied postgrad with part-time work. less than a tenth pursue full-time postgrad study.
A half proportion of government sector workers earned more than $100,000, while between $75,000 to $99,999 two fifths of freelance consultants employee's salary accounted. Privated company's employee from university accounted for more than a third, with $50,000 to $74,999 salary after 5 years work.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The student attempts to address both parts of the prompt by summarizing the pie chart regarding graduate destinations and the table regarding salaries. However, the overview is confused by grammatical errors ('Overall, it is ckear the maximum time spent on full-time work'), and some details are imprecise or inaccurate compared to the provided data (e.g., stating 'a half proportion of government sector workers earned more than $100,000' whereas the data shows 50%, but misinterpreting other salary ranges). Key comparisons are attempted, but ideas are occasionally under-developed or awkwardly phrased, placing the response solidly at Band 5.5 to 6.0. Band 6 is appropriate as all parts of the task are addressed, even if some details lack complete clarity.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0
The response is organized into four paragraphs, following a logical layout of introduction, overview, chart body paragraph, and table body paragraph. However, logical progression is hindered by awkward transitions and confusing sentence structures in the overview. Cohesive devices are basic and sometimes mechanically applied (e.g., 'In contrast', 'After the anthropology course'). Paragraphing is present and generally serves to separate ideas, but referencing and referencing chains are occasionally unclear, leading to a Band 5.5 performance overall. A score of 6.0 is awarded as there is a coherent overall arrangement despite faults in cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common items such as 'proportion', 'destination', 'consultants', and 'unemployed'. However, there are numerous spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, such as 'ckear' instead of clear, 'thier' instead of their, 'employes' instead of employees, 'salry' instead of salary, 'unemployee' instead of unemployed, and 'Privated' instead of private. These errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5, rounding down to 5.0 due to the frequency of basic spelling mistakes.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as introductory prepositional phrases and relative clauses ('graduates who didnot provide any clue'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in verb forms, prepositions, articles, and word formation (e.g., 'the maximum time spent on full-time work by graduates, while majority of graduates spent on part-time work', 'Less than a fifth students', 'didnot', 'postgrad with part-time work'). These errors frequently cause some difficulty for the reader and prevent the response from achieving a higher band. Band 5 is well-suited here.
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.