Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-21

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 graph shows the average monthly change in the prices of copper,nickel and zinc.Nickel started with an increase of 6% change in price from last December.Although, there were changes in price following months upto May.In June the prices saw a sharp drop in prices reducing by 3%.Although by end of the year,price change bacome stable and were changing by 1% in the last two months.Copper startes the new year with a 2% change in prices but the prices subsequently started to drop the following months.The lowest it went were in May and June with a decrease of 1 %.Then,the prices again surged upto 2% by the end of the year.ZInc started the year with 1% increase ,jumping upto3% the next month.The prices of zinc went up down whole year finishing at an increase of 2% in December. The sharpest drop in prices of zinc was seen in the months of June and October.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers the main trends of all three metals throughout 2014, noting key movements such as Nickel's starting peak of 6% and its drop in June, Copper's low points in May and June, and Zinc's fluctuation. However, there are some inaccuracies in reporting specific data points compared to the visual data. For instance, Copper's lowest points were actually -0.5% in May and June rather than the reported -1%, and Zinc's sharpest drops did not occur in October as claimed. Furthermore, the overview is missing entirely, as the writer dives straight into individual metal details without summarising overall trends or broad comparisons. This places the response firmly within Band 5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response lacks appropriate paragraphing, written almost as a single dense block of text, which significantly hinders readability and logical progression. While cohesive devices are attempted (e.g., 'Although', 'Then'), they are sometimes misused or punctuation errors disrupt their function (e.g., 'Although, there were changes...'). Referencing is also occasionally unclear. There is an overall organisation connecting the three metals sequentially, but the absence of distinct paragraphs and mechanical cohesion limits the score to Band 5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is minimally adequate for the task, featuring basic terms like 'increase', 'drop', 'prices', and 'changes'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary such as 'surged' and 'stable', but there are numerous lexical and collocation errors, such as 'price change bacome stable', 'startes the new year', and 'went up down whole year'. Spelling and morphological slips are frequent (e.g., 'upto', 'ZInc'). Because the lexical range is narrow and contains noticeable errors that occasionally cause mild confusion, a band score of 5.0 is appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response displays a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with occasional basic dependent clauses. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including tense inconsistencies ('startes', 'bacome'), missing articles, and punctuation errors (spacing after commas and missing spaces between words like 'copper,nickel'). Complex structures are rarely attempted and when they are, they contain errors. These frequent errors occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, matching the descriptors for Band 5.

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

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