Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 15 · 2026-11-02

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 and table provides information about what graduates did after completing their UG course and wages of students who preffered work aside.

A cursory glance at chart is adequate to demonstrate that 52% graduates persued full-time work which is maximum of all. Conversely, 5% did both a part-time job and post-graduation. Filly part-time working people were 15%, after which 12% students remained unemployed. Ratio of pupils with unknown profession and doing full-time post-graduation is similar which accounted for 8%.

After 5 years of work, 50% of antrhropology graduates got $100,000+ salaries in government sector, further 40% in freelance consulting were in same package along with 30% private company workers. People getting salary between 25000-49,999$ were 5% both from government sector and freelance consultants whereas in private companies the percentage reached to 10. Workers around 25000$ more wages included 15% employees from government as well as consulting sector. Apart from this private organisations attained 20 points more empoyees with same salary.

Overall, most of graduates did full time work whereas both work and study was done by minimum of them, apart from this an incline trend can be observed in salaries of working people.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall5.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several key figures accurately: full-time work is the largest destination at 52%, the combined part-time-work-and-study group is smallest at 5%, and government employees have the highest top salary share at 50%. However, coverage of the table is incomplete and one comparison is inaccurate: the $50,000–$74,999 group is 35% in private companies, not “20 points more” than the 15% in the other sectors; it is 20 percentage points higher, so state the actual figure clearly. The overview’s claim of an “incline trend” is vague because the salary distributions do not rise consistently across all employment types. Give a clearer overview of the main contrasts and report the middle salary bands precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with the graduate destinations discussed first and salary information in a separate paragraph. This makes the two visuals reasonably easy to follow, and phrases such as “After 5 years of work” signal the shift. However, the overview is placed at the end, so the reader encounters detailed figures before the main summary. Some links are also mechanical or unclear: “Conversely” does not express a strong contrast between the largest and smallest categories, while “Apart from this” introduces a comparison whose reference is difficult to follow. Put a concise overview after the introduction, then group related figures and use linking phrases that show the exact relationship between them.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of vocabulary, including “cursory glance,” “accounted for,” “package,” and “incline trend,” but several choices are unnatural or imprecise for describing statistical data. “Wages of students who preffered work aside” is unclear, and “pupils” is not an appropriate substitute for graduates. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “persued,” “Filly,” “antrhropology,” and “empoyees,” which reduce the accuracy of the report. Prefer standard chart language and consistent terms such as graduates, employees, proportion, and salary band. More precise wording would help you describe comparisons without relying on vague expressions such as “same package” or “around 25000$ more wages.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple statements and some longer structures, and most of the data remains understandable. However, there are several errors in agreement and sentence construction. In the opening, “The given pie chart and table provides” should use a plural verb because the subject is compound. “52% graduates” needs an article or a suitable quantifier, and “Ratio of pupils … is similar which accounted for 8%” combines clauses awkwardly and leaves the reference of “which” unclear. The sentence beginning “People getting salary between…” is also difficult to parse. Work on accurate articles, plural forms, and clear clause boundaries; shorter, well-controlled comparisons would improve readability while retaining some complex structures.

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

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