Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-08-21

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The table below shows the change in some household types in Great Britain from 1971 to 2007.

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

PEOPLE IN HOUSEHOLDS BY TYPE OF HOUSEHOLD AND FAMILY

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The graph demonstrates the differences in Britain households types from 1971 to 2007.

Overall, the one person households increased over time. The households with no children and households of lone parent showed an increase in number while the households with dependent children and non-dependent children decrease in this time period.

The single person households doubled in this time period from 6 to 12%. The one-family households without children increased from 19 to 25%. Contrary, the percentage of households with dependent children reduce from 52% to 36% in this time period.

The number of non-dependent children decrease slightly from 10 to 9%. The lone parent households were increased three folds in this time period from 4 to 12% .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the ability to fully develop the response. While you have identified the main trends and provided some data points, the analysis is quite brief and lacks the depth required for a higher band. You have successfully selected key features, such as the growth in single-person households and the decline in households with dependent children. However, the under-length nature of the essay means that the overview and comparisons are not sufficiently extended. To improve, ensure you provide a more detailed analysis of the data and include a clear, comprehensive summary of the overall trends.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the information. You have used basic cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'Contrary', and 'In this time period' to link ideas. However, the transitions between sentences can feel a bit repetitive and mechanical. The progression of ideas is clear, but the lack of length prevents a more sophisticated use of cohesive devices. To improve, try to vary your linking words and ensure that the relationship between the different household types is more explicitly connected through more complex cohesive structures.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, but it is somewhat limited and repetitive. You rely heavily on basic terms like 'increased' and 'decrease'. While you correctly use terms like 'dependent children' and 'lone parent households', there is little evidence of a wider range of vocabulary or less common lexical items. There are also some minor errors in word choice, such as 'Contrary' (should be 'In contrast') and 'three folds' (should be 'threefold'). Expanding your vocabulary to include more precise verbs and nouns related to data description would help improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'Britain households types' (should be 'British household types') and 'the households... decrease' (should be 'decreased' to maintain past tense consistency). Additionally, 'were increased' is an incorrect passive construction; 'increased' is an intransitive verb in this context. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to affect the overall flow. Focusing on consistent verb tense usage and subject-verb agreement will help improve your accuracy.

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

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