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 data gives information about work ethic chosen by the Anthropology graduates who have studied in the same university with respect to their salary increment after working for five years.
Overall, the main hightlight of the graph proves that half of the graduates decided to do full-time work after finishing their undergraduate degree course. The people who considered working in government sector have the large increase in salary over the these year.
52% of graduates have worked full-time, while the other 15% have done part-time work. Total of 12% stay unemployed whereas 8% of people choose to study and to do part time work.
At start graduates who worked with private company had a higher salary as compared to those who work with freelance consultant and government sector. After rising to 35% salaries increase the private sector took a drop in coming years whereas the freelance consultants took a handsome jump to 40%. Government sector started slowly but after some year it rises to 30% and ending at 50% making it the highest one among all.
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 response addresses all parts of the task by reporting on both the post-graduation destinations and the salary distributions after five years. The main features are identified, such as the 52% entering full-time work and the high salaries in the government sector. However, some areas are under-developed or contain inaccuracies. For example, the student misinterprets the salary chart as a timeline of salary increases ('after rising to 35% salaries increase the private sector took a drop'), when the chart actually shows proportions of graduates earning within specific salary brackets rather than career progression over time. This limits the overall quality of data interpretation, placing this aspect of the response securely at the present level.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response presents an overall progression and attempts to organise the information into logical paragraphs separating the pie chart data from the table data. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. The transitions between ideas feel abrupt, and referencing is not always clear, such as the sudden shift into salary data without adequately connecting the types of employment to the respective salary brackets. Paragraphing is present, but the internal linking of sentences relies on repetitive structures like 'At start' and 'Government sector started slowly', which detracts from the fluency of the writing.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate to communicate the main points of the visual data, attempting some less common phrases such as 'undergraduate degree course' and 'freelance consultants'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as 'work ethic chosen' instead of 'employment destinations' or 'career paths', and 'hightlight' containing a spelling error. The misinterpretation of the salary chart also stems partly from lexical confusion regarding how statistical tables are described. These errors do not seriously impede communication, but they prevent the vocabulary from reaching a higher rating.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over basic structures and percentages. However, there are persistent errors in grammar and punctuation throughout the text. Examples include article omissions and misuses, such as 'working in government sector' instead of 'the government sector', subject-verb agreement issues like 'salaries increase the private sector took a drop', and awkward prepositional phrases like 'over the these year'. While these errors rarely impede overall communication, their frequent presence across different sentence types keeps the grammar score at this level.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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