Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-15

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 provides information about the changes in a few household types in Great Britain over the span of 36 years ranging from 1971 to 2001.

Overall, from the data, the percentage of Dependent children and non-dependent children decreased over the period. In contrast, one person, No-children, and lone parent showed increment.

To begin with, the percentage of one person households had doubled over the span of 36 years beginning with 6% in the year 1971, to 12% in the year 2007. Additionally, the parents who were Single, their population shows tripled increment from 4% to 12% over 36 years. Moreover, the parents did not have children reported 19% in the year 1971 and then with steady increment results to 25% in the year 2007.

However, there was a remarkable declined in the percentage of dependent children with 52% to 36% from the period (1971 to 2007) respectively. Finally, Non-dependent children depict a minor changes in the percentage from 10% to 9%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully identifies the main trends and overviews the data provided in the table. An overview is present in the second paragraph, capturing the overall downward trend in children categories and increases in other categories. Key features are selected and reported, such as the doubling of one-person households and the drop in dependent children from 52% to 36%. However, there is a factual error in the opening sentence regarding the end year of the data (stating 2001 instead of 2007, despite correctly referencing 2007 later in the essay). Overall, the task is addressed well with appropriate data selection, fitting the Band 6.5 to 7.0 profile well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, starting with an introduction and overview, followed by body paragraphs detailing increases and decreases respectively. Cohesive devices are used to link ideas, such as "Overall," "In contrast," "To begin with," and "However." However, paragraphing and referencing can feel slightly mechanical. The progression of ideas is clear overall, though the transition between sentences in the body paragraphs could be smoother. This aligns closely with the Band 6 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like "percentage," "population," and reporting verbs. However, there are awkward word choices and phrasing, such as "parents who were Single, their population shows tripled increment" and "steady increment results to." Additionally, there are lexical inaccuracies like "declined" used as a noun after "remarkable" and "depict a minor changes." Despite these errors, communication is not impeded, fitting the Band 6 criteria.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms. There are several grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the text, such as "the parents did not have children reported 19%" (missing relative pronoun/verb) and "from the period (1971 to 2007) respectively" (misuse of respectively). Punctuation and tense control show some lapses, but the sentences remain largely understandable, placing this comfortably at Band 6.

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

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