Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-12

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 table presents the variation in household types in Great Britain between 1971 and 2007.

Overall, the table shows the changes after every 10 years. The table shows three major types, one person and one family households and lone parent. With three different sub types.

There is an evident increase in family of one person, it rose from 6 to 12 percent between 1971 to 2007 with slight increase every 10 years. In 1971 it was 6 percent than it increased by 2 in ten years then 3 percent for next decade 1 percent in 2001 and it remained constant in that decade.

Couples with children remained almost same fluctuating between 19 to 25 with 19 percent in 1971, then it had 1 percent increase in next decade than 4 percent in next decade and increased by 2 percent in for coming next year and remained same till 2007. The dependent children had highest number but it decreased with time with at it’s peak in 1971 and it’s lowest in 2007 it’s highest was 52. Going between 47,41,39 and its lowest was 36 whereas number of non-dependent children almost remain same around 11. The number of lone parents also increased with 4% in 1971 and 6 in next decade 10,12 in coming decade respectively and in 2007 was 12 percent

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers the main trends in the table regarding household types in Great Britain from 1971 to 2007, and attempts some comparisons over time. An overview is provided, noting that data changes over 10-year intervals, and key features such as the rise in one-person households and lone parents are reported. However, some data reporting is imprecise or overly mechanical, such as listing individual percentage changes year by year rather than synthesising the overarching trends cohesively. The distinction between households and families in the visual data is slightly conflated. Nevertheless, all parts of the prompt are addressed to a satisfactory level, leading to a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is arranged coherently with an introduction, an overall statement, and body paragraphs dedicated to different household categories. However, paragraphing is fragmented, with the second paragraph consisting of just two brief sentences that could easily be integrated elsewhere. Cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or lacking in precision, such as 'then it had 1 percent increase in next decade than 4 percent in next decade', which creates a repetitive and somewhat choppy flow. Referencing within sentences is occasionally unclear, making it harder to track subjects smoothly. Overall organization is present, but progression could be handled with more sophisticated logical links, placing this at a Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is generally adequate to convey the data, employing standard terms like 'variation', 'increase', 'decrease', and 'constant'. Some less common items are attempted, such as 'fluctuating' and 'non-dependent', but word choice and collocation are sometimes awkward or imprecise, as seen in phrases like 'family of one person' instead of 'one-person households'. There are also minor lexical errors in preposition use and word forms. The range is sufficient for the task, but lacks flexibility and precision, fitting the descriptors for a Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in punctuation and sentence boundaries, particularly run-on sentences and comma splices, such as 'The dependent children had highest number but it decreased with time with at it’s peak in 1971 and it’s lowest in 2007 it’s highest was 52.' Errors with articles, prepositions, and verb tenses also appear regularly throughout the text ('remain same' instead of 'remained the same'). While meaning is generally recoverable, the frequency of grammatical inaccuracies pulls the score to a Band 5.0.

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