Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)
The given pie chart provides information about the percentage of anthropology graduates from one university while, the table illustrates the salaries from three different employments in five years period.
Overall, full-time work is the most common destination for students in the same university, while regarding salaries the highest percentage comes from the government sector the private sector accounts for the lowest percentage of salaries.
According to the chart about 52% students entered into full-time work which is the highest percentage of students in one university.The smallest proportion of only 5% entered into part-time work combined with postgrad study.About 15% students joined part-time jobs while another 12% remained unemployed.The ratio of full-time post graduates and those who are not known remained the same as 8% throughout the 5 years period.
About 40% frelance consaltunts earned between 75k$ to 99k$. The government sector had the higher percentage of salaries at the rate of 50%. In contrast only 30% of the private company employes earned about 10k or more. In 25k to 49k the private employees has the higher ratio of 10%. Only 5% of both other catagires have the same percentage.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
You identify the main destination accurately: full-time work is the largest category at 52%, and the combined part-time work and postgraduate study group is smallest at 5%. You also include several salary figures. However, the overview is not fully accurate: the table gives salary distributions within three employment types, so saying the government sector has the highest percentage of salaries and private companies the lowest is unclear and unsupported. Some comparisons are missing, and “30% of the private company employees earned about 10k or more” misrepresents the table, which shows 30% in the $100,000+ band. The statement that two destination groups stayed at 8% “throughout the 5 years” also confuses the chart with the salary table. Select key salary-band comparisons and describe what each percentage represents.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0
The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for the chart and salary table. This makes the two visuals easy to distinguish, and linking phrases such as “Overall” and “In contrast” help guide the reader. However, progression within the salary paragraph is less clear: it moves from freelance consultants to government, then private companies, and finally back to the lowest salary band without a consistent comparison pattern. Some references, such as “the highest percentage of salaries,” are not sufficiently clear about which salary band is being discussed. Organise the table paragraph by salary bands or employment types, and use precise references such as “the proportion earning $100,000 or more” to strengthen cohesion.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
You use relevant task vocabulary, including “percentage,” “proportion,” “destination,” and “sector,” and make some attempts at more specific terms such as “freelance consultants.” However, several spelling errors—“frelance consaltunts,” “employes,” and “catagires”—are noticeable, while phrases such as “joined part-time jobs” and “the higher percentage of salaries” are imprecise or unnatural. The salary wording “10k or more” is also unsuitable because the table’s bands begin at $25,000 and the intended category is $100,000+. These choices sometimes make the data difficult to interpret. Check spelling carefully and use exact, conventional descriptions of salary bands and employment categories.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including the overview clause beginning “while regarding salaries” and the comparison introduced by “In contrast.” However, grammatical control is inconsistent, with errors in sentence boundaries, articles, agreement, and prepositions. For example, “while, the table” has an unnecessary comma, and “the private employees has” has a subject–verb agreement error. The opening sentence also has an awkward construction (“while, the table illustrates”) and lacks a clear grammatical link between its parts. Some sentences run together without adequate spacing or punctuation, as in “university.The smallest.” Use shorter, controlled sentences when reporting figures, then check agreement, articles, and punctuation before writing more complex comparisons.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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