Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-25

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 prices of three metals, copper, nickel, and zinc, throughout the year in 2014.

Overall, the price of all three metals declined before increasing. It is clearly seen that copper experienced most dramatically fell before stable at the end of the year. The other two metals were fluctuated from start of the year to end.

In January, copper was the expensive metal at 6%, however in the following two month, its price significantly dropped to 1% in May. Nevetheless, in July, it experienced the lowest percentage which was -3%. At the end of the year it was levelled off at 1% again. In case of zinc, it initailly rose to 3%, but considerably declined in July at -1%. It remained stable for next three months and surged at 2% in December, experienced the highest in from at the end.

Taking a look at zinc, its price was started at 2% in january and decreased consistently till July, where it showed small upward trend which remained stable for three months and ended at 1.5%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response attempts an overview and selects several monthly movements, but key features are misreported, which limits how fully it addresses the graph. The opening says copper was the most expensive in January at 6%, although nickel was highest at about 6% and copper was about 2%. The account also assigns nickel’s sharp fall to July and describes copper as reaching -3%; in fact, nickel fell to around -3% in June, while copper stayed close to zero in May and June. The overview that all three declined before increasing is too broad, and the final paragraph repeats zinc rather than covering copper accurately. To improve, identify each series correctly and summarise the overall highs, lows, and shared late-year recovery.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic paragraph structure, with an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing data, and time markers such as “In January” and “At the end of the year” help signal sequence. However, the progression is weakened by unclear organisation: the second body paragraph discusses zinc, while the final paragraph begins “Taking a look at zinc” again, leaving copper largely unreported. The overview also makes a broad claim without clearly setting up the comparisons that follow. Some linking is awkward, as in “however” joining two clauses without suitable punctuation. Group the metals consistently, avoid repeating one series, and use clear transitions to distinguish the metals’ trends and their shared movements.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The response uses a reasonably varied set of trend vocabulary, including “declined,” “remained stable,” “surged,” and “upward trend,” which is appropriate for describing a line graph. Some attempts at more descriptive language are imprecise or unnatural, however: “experienced most dramatically fell,” “the expensive metal,” and “experienced the highest in from at the end” make the intended meaning difficult to follow. There are also spelling errors such as “Nevetheless” and “initailly.” Choose precise terms for percentage changes and use natural collocations, for example, “recorded the sharpest fall” or “reached its highest point.” This would make the account clearer while retaining the useful range already attempted.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response includes both simple sentences and attempts at longer structures, such as “In January, copper was the expensive metal at 6%, however…” and “It remained stable for next three months and surged at 2% in December.” Meaning is generally recoverable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. Examples include the malformed construction “experienced most dramatically fell before stable,” the missing article in “for next three months,” and “its price was started,” where the passive form is not appropriate. The long sentence joined with “however” also needs clearer punctuation or restructuring. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and sentence patterns such as “fell before stabilising” and “its price started at…” while continuing to vary sentence forms.

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