Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-05

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 chart below shows what anthropology graduates from one university did after finishing their undergraaduate degree course.The table shows the salaries of the anthropologists in work after 5 years.

Full time work contibuted the most in the pie chart representing the destination of anthropology graduates,which was 52%.Government sector was the most fruitful type of employment financially.

The pie chart illustrating the destination of anthropology undergraduates,classifies them into 6 classifications.The majority of the undergrads eneded up working full time,which was 52% of the total students.15%of the students worked part-time.Full time post graduate study and the not know category tied at 8%.Surprisingly,12% of the students were unemployed.5% of the students managed to work part time while persuing postgrad studies.

The table showing the salaries of anthropology graduates,divided the type of employment in 3 sections and the salary ranged from 25,000 to 100,000+ dollars.5% of the freelance consultants made below $50,000,while15% of freelance consultants made between $50000-$74999,40% of them made between $75,000-$99,999,surprisingly 40% of freelance consultants made $100,000+. Government sector was one of the most financially fruitful sectors as 50% of the employees made over 100,000,30% made between $75,000-$99999,15%had salaries between [redacted phone]9 dollars,and only 5% made less than $50,000.30% of the private sector employess made over 100,000 dollars,25% made somewhere in between 75K to 99,999 range,35% of the employees made between 50,000-74,999 dollars anually,while 10%made less than 50,000 dollars anually.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features from both the pie chart and the table, and includes some comparisons, such as noting that full-time work contributed the most at 52 percent. However, some parts of the task are developed more fully than others. While the student provides a detailed breakdown of the salary categories for each type of employment, the selection of data is sometimes repetitive, and the overview at the beginning is overly brief, containing sentences that simply repeat the prompt rubric. To reach a higher band, the response needs to present a clearer, more fully developed overview that highlights the broader trends rather than just listing isolated data points.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response shows some organization with paragraphs dedicated to different parts of the visual data, but it lacks clear overall progression and logical sequencing. Cohesive devices are often inadequate or mechanical, and referencing is sometimes unclear, such as abrupt transitions between sentences without linking words. Furthermore, paragraphing is poorly managed, with introduction material mixed awkwardly or lacking a cohesive flow into the body paragraphs. To improve, the student should ensure that ideas are linked smoothly using appropriate cohesive markers and that each paragraph has a distinct, logically developed focus.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, with attempts to use less common items such as 'fruitful', 'consultants', and 'undergraduates'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and word form, including spelling errors like 'undergraaduate', 'eneded', 'persuing', 'employess', and 'anually'. Phrases such as 'most fruitful type of employment financially' are somewhat unnatural. To move to a higher band, the student needs to expand their lexical range, use less common vocabulary with greater precision, and eliminate spelling and word-form errors that detract from the overall quality of the writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple statements and repetitive listing formats. While there is an attempt at complex sentences, these are often faulty, featuring punctuation errors such as missing spaces after commas and periods (e.g., 'course.The', 'graduates,which'). There are also occasional errors in verb forms and agreement. However, these errors rarely impede overall communication. To achieve a higher band, the student should incorporate a wider variety of complex grammatical structures with better control and pay closer attention to punctuation and sentence boundaries.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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