Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-09

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 future path opted by the anthropology graduates from a single university.

The former students in anthropology from one institute have diverged in post-graduate pursuits after fiver years of study. Almost half of the total are full time employees but have varying income with the ones working in public sector have a range of pay scale between $25000 to more than $100,000. Among them 5% have salary up to $50,000 which is minimum of all and around half are earning beyond $100,000 and rest are getting in between this salary range. However in private organizations, the percentage ones whose earnings surpass $100,000 is 20% less than the state scale.

A few lot of postgraduates is working part time such freelancing and maximum lot of around 40% among them is also earning above $100,000. Some are also continuing their further studies along with the side gig. While 8% are the ones who are solely getting postgraduate degree. 12% of all are currently out of work.

All of them have chosen different career path after graduation according to their preferences.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify several relevant destinations, including full-time work, further study and unemployment, and you make an attempt to compare salary outcomes across employment sectors. However, the response only partially reports the visuals and some key figures are inaccurate or unclear. The chart shows 52% in full-time work, not “almost half”; the table gives 50% of government employees earning $100,000 or more, while the comparison with private companies should be 30%, not a 20% difference as stated. The claim that 5% earn “up to $50,000” also misrepresents the table’s $25,000–49,999 band. The overview is vague and does not clearly summarise the main patterns. Report the chart’s largest and smaller groups, then accurately compare the salary distributions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic paragraph structure and moves from the chart to salary information, then back to graduate destinations. Linking expressions such as “However,” “While” and “Some” help signal relationships between points. Nevertheless, the progression is not consistently clear: the second paragraph combines the overall employment figure with several salary details, and the third shifts between part-time work, freelancing and postgraduate study without clearly distinguishing the chart categories from the table’s employment types. “All of them” in the conclusion is also an unclear reference. Organise the response into a clear overview followed by one paragraph on destinations and one on salaries, using explicit references to each visual.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of vocabulary, including “post-graduate pursuits,” “public sector,” “private organizations” and “salary range,” and the general topic remains understandable. However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for describing statistical information: “future path opted,” “fiver years of study,” “a few lot,” “maximum lot” and “side gig” do not fit the formal report style. “The ones working in public sector” is also imprecise when the table refers to government-sector employees. Use standard chart language and precise employment terms, such as “proportion,” “graduates,” “government sector” and “earnings.” This would make the vocabulary more natural and help distinguish the chart categories from the salary-table categories.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use both simple sentences and some longer structures, including a contrast introduced by “However” and a sentence beginning “While.” Meaning is generally recoverable, but errors are frequent, and some attempted complex sentences are difficult to follow. For example, “The former students … have diverged … after fiver years of study” has an unclear time relationship, while “the percentage ones whose earnings surpass” lacks a grammatical structure. In “Some are also continuing their further studies along with the side gig,” the article and number pattern are problematic, and the final sentence’s “career path” does not agree naturally with “All of them.” Build shorter, accurate comparisons first, then add complex clauses with clear subjects and verb forms.

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