Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-31

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 5.5)

The line graph illustrates the monthly price change ratio of three different metals: copper, nickel, and zinc, in the year 2014.

Overall, in January, copper was at the highest level, while zinc was at the lowest level. In contrast, in December, copper's price was at the lowest position; at the same time, zinc's price increased slightly and reached the highest position.

At the beginning of 2014, the monthly price of copper was 6%, which was the highest level among copper, nickel, and zinc in January. Nickel was the second-place holder and rose 2%. Zinc showed the lowest price level, at nearly 1%.

In the period from February to June , these three metals' prices experienced sharp fall. Copper price faced the worst situation among all these metals.It nearly fell below minus three percent, while the other two metals' prices fluctuated from zero to one percent.

From July to October, prices of these metals were steady. Yet copper prices rose slightly from June to July. In October both copper and zinc fell at minus two and minus one percentage. However, after October- November, these two metals rose rapidly,at the same time, nickel price fluctuated . In December Zinc price stood up at the top , while nickel price held its second level during the hole year. But at the end of the year, copper price experienced the worst price situation and made third place among all these metals .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the three metals and provide an overview, but several central features are misreported, which makes the account only partially accurate. In January, nickel—not copper—had the highest monthly change, at about 6%, while copper was around 2%; the overview reverses this comparison. The claim that copper fell below minus three per cent is also incorrect: nickel reached roughly -3% in June, whereas copper was only about -0.5%. Your account does note the broad mid-year decline and late-year recovery, but the description of the final rankings is confused: nickel was not second throughout the year, and copper ended at about 1.5%, above the other two. Select and compare the main movements more carefully, using accurate figures to support the overview.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing earlier and later months. Time markers such as “At the beginning of 2014” and “From July to October” help the reader follow the timeline. However, progression is sometimes weakened by unclear or contradictory comparisons, particularly the opening overview and the final ranking statements. Some linking phrases, including “Yet” and “at the same time,” do not clearly show the relationship between the trends, and the final paragraph moves between metals without a consistent comparison pattern. Organise the body around shared stages or compare each metal systematically, and use references such as “the latter” only when their meaning is unmistakable. This would make the overall arrangement more coherent and cohesion less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of vocabulary for describing trends, including “experienced,” “fluctuated,” “steady,” and “rose slightly.” These choices show an attempt to vary the language rather than repeat only “went up” and “went down.” However, several expressions are imprecise or unnatural for a graph report: “price change ratio,” “second-place holder,” “stood up at the top,” and “worst price situation” do not communicate the data in a suitably precise way. “Copper price” also needs more natural phrasing, such as “the price of copper” or “copper prices.” Aim for standard trend collocations and distinguish a metal’s monthly percentage change from its overall price level. More precise wording will make your comparisons clearer and more academic.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, for example, “In contrast, in December…” and “while the other two metals’ prices fluctuated…”. The main meaning is generally recoverable, but some grammatical and punctuation errors reduce accuracy. In “At the beginning of 2014, the monthly price of copper was 6%,” the sentence structure is clear, but the figure is attached to the wrong metal; focus on keeping the grammatical subject and comparison aligned with the data. There are also inconsistent spaces around punctuation and awkward sentence boundaries, as in “metals.It” and “rapidly,at.” The clause “after October- November” is not formed clearly, and the final sentences contain incomplete or poorly connected comparisons. Proofread punctuation and practise accurate comparative clauses and past-tense reporting.

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