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 and table illustrate the destination of Anthropology graduates after completing their undergraduate degree course from single university, and their salaries after 5 years' work.

Overall, most of the Anthropology graduates are involves in full-time work or part-time work, few are unemployed or involves with postgraduate study. Whereas, the high-paying employment categories mostly include government sector and freelance consultants.

The Anthropology graduates after completing their undergraduation started their full-time work, which involves 52% of total students. 15% pupil started part-time jobs. The rest of the graduates either enrolled in postgraduate study along with part-time work, full-time postgraduate study, remain unemployed or their destination is unknown, and their respective percentages are 15%, 5%, 8%, 12% and 8%, respectively.

The salaries of these graduates vary according to the kind of employment. Most of the Freelance consultants, approximatley 40% are receiving greater than 1lac dollar salary and another 40% are getting 75,000 to 99,999 dollar. Similarly, 50% of employees in government sector

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main destination, with full-time work correctly reported as the largest category at 52%, and you note that government and freelance roles tend to have higher salaries. However, the overview is partly inaccurate: postgraduate study accounts for 13% in total (5% combining part-time work and study, plus 8% full-time study), rather than being simply a small group alongside unemployment. More importantly, the destination figures are misreported: you give 15% for the combined study category, then list six percentages for five remaining categories. The salary discussion is unfinished and omits the private-company figures and several useful comparisons. To develop the response further, report the categories accurately and summarise the key salary contrasts across all three employment types.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph on graduate destinations and a final paragraph on salaries. This gives the reader a coherent overall route through the two visuals. Some connections, however, are unclear or mechanical. In the destinations paragraph, “The rest” is followed by a list whose figures do not clearly match the categories, and “respectively” cannot resolve the mismatch. The final paragraph stops after the government-sector figure, leaving the salary comparison incomplete and disrupting the progression. Use one clear sentence for each set of categories, and organise the salary paragraph around comparisons between employment types and income bands. This would make the links between information more precise.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “destination,” “postgraduate study,” “freelance consultants” and “government sector,” so the topic is generally clear. However, several choices are informal, inaccurate or awkward for an academic summary: “pupil” is unsuitable for university graduates, “undergraduation” is not the natural term, and “1lac dollar” is unclear and not an appropriate way to express the salary band. There are also spelling and word-form slips such as “approximatley” and “involves.” Aim for precise, consistent terms such as “graduates,” “undergraduate degree,” and “$100,000 or more.” Avoid conversational phrasing like “getting” when describing salaries; “earning” or “receiving” is more suitable.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including the contrast introduced by “Whereas” and the sentence beginning “The rest of the graduates either…”. Some grammatical errors remain, though the main meaning is usually recoverable. For example, “most of the Anthropology graduates are involves” has faulty agreement and verb form; “from single university” is missing an article; and “after 5 years’ work” would be clearer as “after five years of work.” The long list in the destinations paragraph also creates a sentence-structure problem because the categories and percentages do not align clearly. The final sentence is incomplete, ending with “50% of employees in government sector.” Check subject–verb agreement, articles and sentence completion, and use shorter, controlled sentences for data comparisons.

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