Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-17

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 pie chart displays proportion for future employment of arthropology graduates from particular university with table comparing their salaries in five years.

Overall ,the largest distribution is shared by graduates employed full-time whereas those empoyed part -time with continuing postgrad study shared the lowest of all. Graduates with unknown employement status and thosw with full time postgrad study shared the similiar distrubution. while table showed salary comparison highest among government employee and freelance.

To begin with , the huge number of graduates around 52% were employed as full-time workers followed by 15% employed as part-time and 12% with unemployment status , whereas graduates who continued ful-time postgrad education shared 8% proportion similiar to those with not known participants. The lowest among all the distrubution was those with part - time employment and postgrad study about 5%.

Furthermore , table displays salaries of graduates in 5 years as government employed and freelance being paid highest around 40% and 50% then those who were in private sectors get paid 30% lowest among the three.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main destination pattern accurately: full-time work is the largest category at 52%, while part-time work combined with postgraduate study is the smallest at 5%; you also correctly note the equal 8% figures. The response covers both visuals and gives an overview, but the salary comparison is underdeveloped and partly unclear. The table shows that government employees have the highest share in the top salary band ($100,000+), at 50%, while freelance consultants have 40% in that band; saying both are “paid highest around 40% and 50%” does not clearly identify the salary band. Private-company employees are not simply paid the lowest: their largest group is the $50,000–74,999 band, at 35%. Make comparisons more precise and report the table’s key distribution.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs describing the chart and table. This gives the reader a generally logical route through the information, and transitions such as “To begin with” and “Furthermore” help signal the shift between visuals. The overview also brings the main chart features together. However, some links between ideas are awkward or unclear, particularly the sentence about salaries, where “highest around 40% and 50% then those who were in private sectors get paid 30% lowest” does not make the comparison easy to follow. Punctuation around transitions is inconsistent, and the overview’s final point is not clearly connected to the table details. Use clearer sentence boundaries and organise salary comparisons by income band.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “proportion,” “unemployment status,” “full-time workers,” and “salary comparison,” so the topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several noticeable spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “arthropology,” “empoyed,” “employement,” and “distrubution” recur or appear in key descriptions. Some phrases are also unnatural, such as “the largest distribution is shared by” and “paid highest around 40% and 50%.” Prefer standard chart language such as “accounted for,” “the largest proportion,” and “the highest salary band.” Check spelling carefully and choose terms that distinguish a percentage of graduates from the salary amount itself; this will make the comparisons more accurate and fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “whereas” and a relative clause in “those who continued full-time postgrad education.” The main information is usually recoverable, but errors in sentence construction and punctuation are frequent enough to make some passages difficult to read. For example, “Overall ,the largest distribution is shared…” has faulty spacing and an awkward passive construction, while “Graduates with unknown… shared the similiar distrubution. while table showed…” creates a fragment after the full stop. The final sentence also lacks a clear grammatical structure for comparing the three employment groups. Practise complete sentences with consistent tense, articles, and punctuation, and use a clear pattern such as “The proportion earning… was…, compared with…”.

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

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