Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-23
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 5.0)
The chart shows the Destination of Anthropology graduates and the table explain their salaries after 5 years work.
After graduates more than half of them join full time work. The second larger portion of student join part time work and third large portion remain unemployed. A significant number of graduate join full time postgrad study which is 8% and another small portion of graduate do part time work and postgrad study at the same time. Among the 8% of graduates information are unknown.
The table shows the salaries of graduates after 5 year of their work experiences. Three types of employment are compared, Freelance consultants provide high salaries for higher packages but lower salaries for low and mid packages. Government sectors increase linearly 5%,15%,30%,50% and private companies shows a different pattern here they provide high percentages to low and mid package and low percentage to higher packages.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response makes a clear attempt to address both parts of the prompt, outlining the graduate destinations and the salary table. However, there are significant issues that prevent a higher score. First, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 147 words, which leads to a direct penalty in Task Achievement. Second, while some key features are mentioned (such as 52% entering full-time work and 8% in postgraduate study), the overview lacks sufficient synthesis, and some details are imprecise or misread from the prompt. For instance, the statement 'Among the 8% of graduates information are unknown' misinterprets the 8% unknown figure alongside the separate 8% full-time postgraduate figure. The analysis of the salary table is also underdeveloped, relying on superficial descriptions rather than thorough comparisons.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The essay is divided into three paragraphs, providing a basic structure that separates the introduction, the chart, and the table. However, the logical progression is weak. Paragraphs lack strong topic sentences, and the cohesive devices used are overly simplistic or repetitive. There is a heavy reliance on basic transitional markers, and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where pronouns and linking phrases fail to guide the reader smoothly through the statistics. Furthermore, the lack of an overarching overview paragraph weakens the overall structure expected in an academic task one response.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is generally basic and repetitive, with frequent reliance on words directly lifted from the prompt such as 'chart', 'destination', 'anthropology', 'graduates', and 'salaries'. Attempts at less common vocabulary are limited, and there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'five years work' instead of 'five years of work', 'second larger portion' instead of 'second largest proportion', and 'Government sectors increase linearly' which misuses the word 'linearly' to describe discrete percentages. While the language is minimally adequate to convey basic data points, the restricted lexical range and errors place it firmly at Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writer demonstrates a limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple sentences and basic subject-verb-object constructions. Attempts at complex sentences are rare and often marred by grammatical errors, such as missing prepositions and articles (e.g., 'After graduates more than half of them join full time work' and 'the salaries of graduates after 5 year of their work experiences'). There are also punctuation and pluralization issues throughout the text. While these errors do not completely obscure the meaning, their frequency across a short text indicates a lack of control over more complex grammatical forms.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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