Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-10-24

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 chart compares the career selection of Anthropology students after graduating from one University. and table illustrates the salaries distribution of anthropologiest in job after five years.

Overall, it is clear that majority of students choose full-time work after graduation. while minority of students preffer part-time + post-study. maximum employees from Freelance consultants and Government sector earn hughest amount of money.

Most of the student select Full-time work as a profsssion after completing undergraduate degree. 52% stuents preffer it. Second highest percentages of stuents 15% do part-time work.

approximately 5% and 8% stuents choose part-time work+postgard study and full-time postgard study. whereas, 8% stuents were not inform about it. 12% students could not find a job.

40% graduates earn more than $[redacted phone] money from Freelance consultants. and others 40% earned the scale of $[redacted phone]9. approximately 50% and 30% emplyee earnsd from government sector about $[redacted phone]+ and $[redacted phone]9

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the main destination accurately: full-time work is the largest category at 52%, and you report the smaller study-related groups and unemployment. You also note that high salaries are common among freelance consultants and government employees. However, the response only partially covers the task: the salary table’s private-company figures are omitted, and the lower salary bands are not compared. The overview is also incomplete, since it does not summarise the contrast between destinations or the salary distributions across all three sectors. Some wording is unclear, such as “maximum employees … earn hughest amount,” and the final salary comparison is unfinished. The response is three words below the required minimum of 150, so add enough relevant detail to meet the task requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and separate paragraphs for graduate destinations and salaries. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression is uneven: the salary paragraph stops after discussing freelance consultants and government employees, leaving the private-company data unaddressed. Linking is sometimes mechanical or confusing, as in “whereas, 8% students were not inform about it,” where the relationship between categories is unclear. Several sentences begin with figures but do not develop a complete comparison, and the final sentence ends without a clear concluding point. Use clearer grouping and transitions—for example, compare the three employment sectors together, then contrast their highest and lower salary bands.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “full-time work,” “part-time work,” “postgrad study,” “salary distribution” and “Freelance consultants.” These terms help communicate the chart’s subject. However, the range is limited and several word choices, collocations and spelling errors make the report less precise: “career selection” is not a natural description of graduates’ destinations, “salary distribution” would be better expressed as “salary ranges,” and “earn hughest amount of money” is awkward. There are also repeated misspellings such as “stuents,” “preffer,” “profsssion” and “emplyee.” Aim for accurate, concise reporting language and check spelling carefully; use “graduates” or “employees” rather than repeating “students” when describing people’s work and earnings.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and more complex structures, including “Overall, it is clear that…” and a sentence contrasting salary groups. However, grammatical control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make relationships difficult to follow. For example, “majority of students choose” needs an article, while “8% stuents were not inform” has problems with the noun phrase and passive verb form. Sentence boundaries and punctuation are also unreliable: “University. and table illustrates…” incorrectly separates a sentence, and several clauses begin with lowercase “whereas” or “and.” The final salary sentence lacks a clear, complete structure. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement, articles, passive forms and sentence punctuation, while building comparisons with controlled clauses such as “In the government sector, half earned…”.

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