Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-09-27
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 working conditions of anthropology graduates from a university and the table provides the information about their earnings after five years of field experience.
More than half the students got the full time job after the graduation making upto 52% of graduates from the university. 15% of the students found the part time jobs and small proportion of students that was about 5% pursued postgraduate study in addition to part time work. Enthusiasts who got enrolled in full-time post graduation were 8% of the graduates. Some graduates were found to be unemloyed and the figure to which they summed up was 12%. Whereabouts of 5% of graduate students remained unknown.
Students who remained in the field for five yaers their salaries were analyzed. Ones working in the government were being payed the most after 5 years of experience.
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 student successfully identifies the main features of both the pie chart and the table, reporting figures such as 52% for full-time work and outlining the salary distributions for different sectors after five years. However, the response falls slightly short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 141 words. Furthermore, the overview is incomplete; it fails to synthesize the main trends across the two data sets effectively, and the description of the table data in the final paragraph is very brief and lacks sufficient comparative detail. These omissions prevent the response from achieving a higher band score.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response has an identifiable overall progression, beginning with an introduction, moving to the pie chart details, and concluding with the table information. However, the paragraphing is underdeveloped, particularly with the final two-sentence paragraph that abruptly summarizes the salary data without adequate linking or expansion. Cohesive devices are used sparingly, and referencing is occasionally clunky, such as 'Students who remained in the field for five yaers their salaries were analyzed,' which creates a disjointed flow. More varied transitional markers and structured paragraph breaks are needed.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully employing terms such as 'illustrates,' 'undergraduate degree course,' and 'postgraduate study.' However, there are notable lexical limitations and inaccuracies, such as the spelling error 'unemloyed' instead of unemployed, and awkward phrasing like 'making upto' and 'figure to which they summed up.' While attempts are made to use less common vocabulary, word choices and collocations lack precision and flexibility, placing this response firmly in the Band 6 category.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writing contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over basic structures. For example, sentences like 'More than half the students got the full time job after the graduation' are mostly understandable. However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward structures, such as missing articles ('full time job', 'the graduation'), a typo ('yaers'), and a dangling topic structure in the final section ('Students who remained in the field for five yaers their salaries were analyzed'). These errors do not completely impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher grade.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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