Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-06
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 given pie chart illustrates the data of the university students that they are doing after graduation in anthropology. The given bar chart also shows the salary ranges in their field after five years.
Overall, it is evident that at least half of the graduated students are doing full time job in their field, and half of the students who work in government sectors are getting higher salaries after 5 years of work.
According to the given pie chart, 52% of the graduated students are doing full-time work, whereas only 15% of students are currently doing part-time work. A small number of students, about 12%, are unemployed recently. About 8% of students are those who are doing full-time postgraduate study. On the other hand, only 5% of the students are doing postgraduate study with part-time work.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0
The response only partially addresses the prompt and fails to meet the minimum length requirement of 150 words, stopping short at 136 words. While the writer attempts an overview and mentions several data points from the pie chart, the information is incomplete. Crucially, the writer mentions the table showing salary ranges in the introduction, but completely fails to report or summarise any data from the table regarding the salaries of anthropologists in work after five years. This represents a significant omission of a major visual component. Furthermore, the selection of details lacks balance, focusing heavily on a few categories of the pie chart while ignoring others like the 'not known' segment, leading to a minimal and underdeveloped response.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
There is some basic organisation with an introduction, a brief overview paragraph, and a body paragraph detailing the pie chart. However, there is no clear overall progression across the text, especially as the promised discussion of the table is entirely missing. Cohesive devices are used minimally and somewhat repetitively, such as the frequent reliance on 'given' and 'according to the given'. Paragraphing is attempted, but the logical structure breaks down because the second visual is never integrated into the body of the essay. Referencing is sometimes unclear, for example in the second sentence of the overview where the link between working in government sectors and getting higher salaries is introduced without supporting data from the missing table section.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The writer demonstrates a basic working vocabulary with terms like 'graduated students', 'full-time work', 'part-time work', and 'unemployed'. However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing throughout, such as 'what the university students that they are doing after graduation', 'doing full time job', and 'unemployed recently'. These choices show a restricted range and awkward collocations. While meaning is generally conveyed for the simple points attempted, the vocabulary lacks the precision, flexibility, and less common items required to achieve a higher score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There is a limited range of grammatical structures, and attempts at complex sentences often result in errors, such as the awkward clause construction in the opening sentence: 'illustrates the data of the university students that they are doing'. Article errors and preposition misuse also occur, such as omitting necessary articles or using 'in their field' repetitively. Frequent errors in clause integration and referencing can cause some difficulty for the reader, although basic sentences remain mostly understandable.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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