Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-14

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 illustrations depicts the salaries of the Anthropology graduates from a university. I will disscuss this in detail in the body paragraph.

Overall, Most of the graduates preferred fulltime work over part time work along with continuous studies.

To begin with, 50 percent of the Anthropology graduates did full time work. 15 percent of the graduates started part time job. 5 percent of the graduates managed to work part time along with persuing postgrad study. 8 percent of graduates decided to fully focus on postgrad studies. 12 percent remained unemployed and, there is no known information about the remaining 8 percent graduates.

Now those who did part time or full time work for 5 years after graduating, got various types of employments such as freelance consultants, government employees and employee in any private firms. In each available field, 5% employees earned less than 50k dollars annually, 15% earn less than 75k dollars, 40% earn less than a 100 grands and 40 to 50 percent earn more than a 100 grands annually.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You cover both the graduates’ destinations and the salary table, and most destination figures are reported accurately. However, the opening says the illustrations depict salaries, although the chart also shows post-graduation destinations, and the overview does not summarise the salary pattern. There is also a key numerical error: full-time work was 52%, not 50%. The final comparison is too general and partly misleading: the salary bands differ by employment type, and the top band ranges from 30% in private companies to 50% in government, rather than “40 to 50 percent” across the fields. To strengthen the response, give a clear overview of the main contrasts and report the salary figures separately for each employment type.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph on destinations and a final paragraph on salaries. This makes the information reasonably easy to follow. However, the opening promise, “I will disscuss this in detail,” does not help organise a formal report, and “Now” is a rather conversational transition into the salary data. The overview focuses only on work preferences and does not connect the two visuals. In the final paragraph, several salary figures are compressed into one sentence, making it difficult to see which percentages apply to which employment type. Use clearer grouping and linking, such as describing the salary distributions for each sector in turn.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “unemployed,” “postgrad study,” “freelance consultants” and “government employees,” so the topic is generally clear. However, some choices are informal or imprecise for an academic summary: “100 grands,” “fully focus,” and “managed to work” do not describe the data neutrally. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “disscuss” and “persuing,” and awkward phrases such as “employee in any private firms.” These do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and naturalness. Prefer standard terms such as “annual salary,” “undertook postgraduate study,” and “employees in private companies,” and check spelling before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple statements and some longer structures, and the sequence of destination figures is mostly understandable. However, there are several errors in agreement and sentence construction. “The illustrations depicts” should use a plural verb, while “Most” is unnecessarily capitalised after the comma in the overview. The phrase “there is no known information” is awkwardly constructed, and “those who did part time or full time work for 5 years after graduating, got” has an unnecessary comma separating the subject from its verb. The final sentence also shifts between past and present forms (“earned,” “earn,” “earn”). Use consistent past-tense reporting and check agreement, punctuation and sentence boundaries to make the information more accurate.

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