Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below shows the average monthly change in the prices of three metals during 2014.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Average monthly change in prices of copper, nickel and zinc (2014)

Student answer (Band 5.0)

The line graph illustrates comapries the proportion of montly expendicture change in the three meatls in the year 2014. Overall, it is the comepetative as nickle start with highest and ended with lowest, whereas other two meatls managed to scope up at the end of the year.

It is striking that nickel started with 6 percent in january, in june it droped dramatically and somehow managed to reach 1 percent by. december. Whereas zinc just started with 1 and crossed nickel just before the great fall and rose highest by the end.While copper was at 2 percent at the beginning and considerablly dropped and exceeded nickel in june and rised above the nickel.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the three metals and give a broad overview that nickel began highest and that the other metals finished higher, which addresses the task in part. However, the account is very brief and leaves out important stages and comparisons, including nickel’s sharp fall to its lowest point in June, the metals’ generally negative changes around June to October, and their recovery near year-end. Some details are also unclear or inaccurate: zinc did not rise to the highest figure at the end; it finished at about 2%, above nickel but below copper’s 1.5% only if the chart values are read differently—according to the supplied data, zinc is highest in December. The phrase about copper exceeding nickel “in june” is incorrect, as nickel was lower then, but copper was not above it in June. The response is also 37 words below the required minimum. Add a fuller, accurate account of the main movements and comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic structure: an opening sentence, an overall statement, and a paragraph describing selected details. This gives the reader some sense of the response’s purpose. However, the progression is limited because the description jumps between metals and months without a clear sequence, and several links are awkward or incomplete. For example, “in june it droped dramatically and somehow managed to reach 1 percent by. december” interrupts the timeline, while “Whereas zinc…” and “While copper…” are not smoothly connected to the preceding sentences. The overview also repeats ideas that are not clearly developed in the detail paragraph. Organise the body chronologically or describe each metal in turn, and use clear sentence boundaries and linking phrases to show comparisons.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You attempt some task-related vocabulary, including “proportion,” “dramatically,” “crossed,” and “rose,” and the reader can generally recognise that you are describing changes in metal prices. However, the range is limited and several word choices or spellings make the meaning difficult to follow. “Comapries,” “expendicture,” “meatls,” and “comepetative” are misspelled, while “scope up” is not an appropriate expression for an increase. “Crossed nickel” is also imprecise: specify whether zinc’s monthly change became higher or lower than nickel’s. Use accurate terms such as “monthly percentage change,” “fell,” “recovered,” and “finished at,” and check spelling carefully. More precise vocabulary would make the comparisons clearer.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and more complex sentence forms, such as the contrast in “Overall, it is the comepetative as nickel start with highest and ended with lowest, whereas…” However, control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make relationships between events unclear. Examples include “nickel start” instead of “nickel started,” “in june it droped,” and the incomplete construction “reach 1 percent by. december.” The sentence beginning “Whereas zinc…” is a fragment, and “While copper…” is also left without a complete main clause. Punctuation and capitalisation are uneven, particularly around sentence boundaries and month names. Practise writing complete sentences with consistent past-tense verbs, then check that each contrast clause is attached to a main clause.

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