Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-02
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 what has Anthropology graduates of one university did after finishing their undergraduate degree course whereas the table provides information about the salaries of the anthropologists in work after five years.
Overall, while the majority of graduates did full-time job, smallest proportion of graduates accounted for part-time work along with postgraduate study. After the five years of work, the salaries of almost half of the graduates in all three type of employment have earned more than $100,000.
About 52% of Anthropology graduates had full-time work, while the 15% of graduates accounted for part-time jobs. Nearly 12% graduates were neither engaged in any work nor persuing further studies. On the other hand, the state of some graduates were unknown. Similarly, 8% shows intrested in postgraduate study without being involved in any work.
Among the percentage of graduates that had jobs were mostly earning more than $100,000. Around 50%, 40% and 30% had earned higher amount from government sector, freelance consultants and private companies, while there were still 10% of graduates whose salaries was $25,000-49,999.
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 addresses all parts of the prompt by describing both the pie chart and the table, but some areas are treated with limited clarity or minor inaccuracies. For instance, the overview states that 'salaries of almost half of the graduates in all three type of employment have earned more than $100,000,' which misinterprets the data for private companies where the highest bracket is 30% rather than nearly half. Key features such as the dominant 52% in full-time work are reported, but details regarding smaller categories are sometimes under-developed or imprecise. To reach a higher level, the response would need to ensure all overviews and reported figures strictly reflect the provided visual data without misreading category distributions.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure separating the introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. However, logical progression is occasionally hindered by mechanical or awkward transitions, such as 'On the other hand, the state of some graduates were unknown. Similarly, 8% shows intrested in postgraduate study,' where 'Similarly' is used incorrectly to connect contrasting or unrelated ideas. Referencing and cohesive devices are sometimes repetitive or inaccurate. To improve, the writer should focus on using cohesive devices more precisely to demonstrate a clearer logical relationship between sentences and ideas throughout the response.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, providing basic terms to discuss percentages and employment types. There are, however, noticeable word choice and word form errors that occasionally distract the reader, such as 'what has Anthropology graduates... did' in the opening sentence and 'persuing' instead of pursuing. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary items like 'freelance consultants' and 'government sector,' but inaccuracies in collocation and spelling persist, for instance writing 'intrested' instead of interested. A wider, more precise control of lexical items and correct word forms would be required to achieve a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting comparative and subordinate clauses. However, frequent grammatical errors occur across the text, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('what has Anthropology graduates... did' and 'salaries was'), incorrect prepositions ('earned higher amount from'), and article omission ('in all three type of employment'). These frequent errors and faulty complex structures cause some difficulty for the reader. To improve in this area, the writer needs to enhance control over basic sentence mechanics, verb tenses, singular/plural agreement, and structural accuracy.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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