Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-22
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 given pie chart depicts proportions of what Anthropology graduates did after completing their university, while the table displays the wages of Anthropology graduates after five years in work.
Overall, most graduates tended to work full time, whereas the smallest proportion constituted students who worked part-time along with postgrad study. Moreover, salaries were highest for freelance consultants and minimum for private companies.
On the one hand, students working full-time has a percentage of 52 followed by students who did part-time work at 15%. 12% individuals were unemployed. Postgrad students and students who stayed anonymous had equal proportion of 8%. Postgrad students doing part-time work had lowest percentage of 5%.
On the other hand, Anthropology graduates who worked as freelance consultants had highest salary figure constituting about 40% students. Government sector was selected by less graduates with attractive salary but 50% graduates were paid more than 100,000 dollars. Moderate range of graduates decided to work in private firms with 10% students being paid the minimal salary, while 30% were paid the highest.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The student addresses all parts of the task by reporting on both the pie chart and the table. An overview is provided, highlighting the main trends such as the predominance of full-time work and the salary distribution across sectors. Key features are selected and compared, for example noting that full-time work stood at 52% and highlighting the high salaries in the government sector where 50% earned over 100,000 dollars. However, some data points contain minor inaccuracies, such as stating that salaries were 'minimum for private companies' (whereas freelance consultants had a lower percentage in the lowest bracket, and private companies actually had higher proportions in some mid-ranges). Overall, the task is competently addressed with clear main features reported.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response is organized into clear paragraphs, starting with an introduction and overview, followed by separate paragraphs for the chart and the table. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader, such as 'Overall', 'On the one hand', and 'On the other hand'. However, the progression within paragraphs can feel slightly mechanical or disjointed due to abrupt transitions between individual data points (e.g., '12% individuals were unemployed. Postgrad students and students who stayed anonymous...'). Paragraphing is appropriate, but the logical flow between sentences could be smoother to achieve a higher band.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'proportions', 'graduates', 'unemployed', and 'freelance consultants'. Less common items are attempted, such as 'constituting' and 'proportion'. However, there are notable word choice and collocation errors or awkward phrasing, such as 'minimum for private companies', 'stayed anonymous' instead of 'not known', and 'had a percentage of 52' instead of 'accounted for 52%'. Spelling is generally accurate, but vocabulary limitations and occasional imprecise expressions prevent a higher score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses and introductory dependent clauses ('while the table displays...'). There are, however, several grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues ('students working full-time has a percentage') and missing articles ('had highest salary figure'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, and while errors are present, they rarely impede communication. The control over complex structures is somewhat inconsistent.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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