Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-06
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 compares the average monthly change in the prices of three metals during 2014
overall, the prices of each of the three metals copper , nickel and zinc fluctuated every month
the price of nickel was highest in the first month of the year about 6 percent more which decreased for the next two month and remained steady between march and april . its price further decreased in march and then became the lowest in the month of june then it increased to about -1 percent in july and remained unchanged till september .in october it decreased to about -2 percent and incread to value of 1 percent till december
the price of copper also changed throughout the year first its value decreased till june then increased for the month of july it then remained unchanged for about three months .afterwards its decreased and increased for the month of december to 1.5 percent .
the price of zinc first reached its maximum value at 3 percent then it decreeased and for the mont of november and december it again increased
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AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5
The response makes an attempt to address the task by mentioning the overall trend of fluctuation and noting some data points for copper, nickel, and zinc. However, the coverage is limited and partially inaccurate. For example, the student writes that nickel decreased for the next two months and remained steady between March and April, which misinterprets the graph where nickel dropped from 6 to 4 in February and then to 1 in March. Furthermore, the details provided for copper and zinc are extremely vague, omitting key figures and major trends such as zinc's peak of 3 percent and its subsequent negative values in the middle of the year. The response relies on minimal and under-developed reporting, failing to fully cover all parts of the visual data prompt.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
There is some basic organisation in the response, beginning with an introductory sentence and separating each metal into its own paragraph. However, there is no clear overall progression, and the transitions between ideas feel abrupt and mechanical. The text lacks cohesive devices entirely, relying on repetitive sentence starters like "the price of..." instead of linking words or pronouns to connect ideas. Paragraphing is attempted by separating the metals, but the internal structure of each paragraph is disjointed, making it difficult for the reader to follow the flow of information smoothly.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is very limited and repetitive, depending heavily on basic terms such as "price", "increased", "decreased", and "changed". There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as "incread to value of 1 percent" and "decreased... for the month of december". Spelling errors also occur, such as "decreeased" and "mont". While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the basic subject matter, the frequent inaccuracies and lack of less common lexical items restrict the precision required for a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, consisting mostly of simple and attempted complex sentences that are frequently faulty. There is a complete absence of punctuation, with sentences running together or lacking terminal full stops, and no capitalisation used at the beginning of sentences or for proper nouns like months. Grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text, including tense inconsistencies and preposition errors such as "decreased for the next two month" (plural noun missing) and "decreased till june then increased for the month of july". These frequent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a weak control of basic grammatical rules.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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