What band is this answer?

Approximately Band 5.0, rated against the public IELTS band descriptors.

Are the corrections from a real examiner?

They are marked by a former IELTS examiner and examiner trainer, using the same criteria used in the test.

How do I see the corrections?

Click any highlighted word or phrase to see what is wrong with it and what it should be. Show all corrections opens every one at once.

Is this a real candidate answer?

Yes. It is reproduced exactly as written, errors included, which is why it is more useful than a model answer.

How long should I spend on this task?

About 20 minutes, writing at least 150 words.

Band 5

IELTS Academic Task 1 Band 5 sample answer 1

A real candidate answer at Band 5, with every examiner correction marked on it. 31 corrections.

Get your writing marked By a former IELTS examiner and examiner trainer

A Band 5 answer is not a bad answer. It is an answer where the meaning mostly gets through but the errors are frequent enough to interrupt the reader.

Band 5 is where the largest number of candidates sit, and it is the band with the clearest route out, because the problems are visible rather than subtle.

Click any highlighted word to see the correction. The commentary at the foot of the page explains what holds the answer at this band overall.

The task

The Task 1 report question

The chart this describes is noted below.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The chart below shows how people travelled to work in 1996 and 2001.

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

Bar chart comparing how people in Grahamston travelled to work in 1996 and 2001. Car or truck was the most common in both years, at 58 percent in 1996 rising to 68 percent in 2001. In 1996 the remaining modes were private vehicle passengers 12 percent, public transport 10 percent, worked at home 6 percent, walking 7 percent and bicycle 2 percent. Working at home rose by about 3 percentage points by 2001, while public transport, walking and other modes all fell. — How people in Grahamston travelled to work, 1996 and 2001.

The answer

The report as the candidate wrote it

Reproduced exactly as written, errors included.

0 of 31

As can seen this chart, there a dramatic who used in to other of transport both years with almost 70% on 2001 and just below 60% in 1996. the other of transport were far behind less than 15% the same years.

People who based their job at home in 2001 work slightly higher in to other periods and all other of transport are dominated by . who own car in 1996 are more than 10% to approximately 5%. the same year the number of people who walked, other of transport higher compared to year.

(134 words)

Examiner comments

Why this is a Band 5 Academic Task 1 answer

The overall verdict, criterion by criterion.

This report is too short for the requirements of the task, and there is no clear academic structure (no introduction, no ending statement and no 'overall' description).

Although some sentences are quite long, they are not clear and often lose meaning. It would be better to write shorter, clearer sentences divided into paragraphs.

As the graph has two past dates, the tenses used should be the past forms, but the writer uses a mix of past and present forms.

The other Academic Task 1 band samples

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