Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-09-16

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 bar table tracks the information about household types from 1971 to 2007 in Great Britian in percentages.

In Great Britian, household types includes one person house hold, and one family house hold which subdivided into couple with and without children, and lone parent. One person household type was around 6% in 1971 which then reached at 12% in 2007. Whereas, one family household which includes couple with no children were about 19% in 1971 which deliberately climbed to 25% in 2007.Meanwhile, couple with dependent children were 52% and non dependent children around 10% in 1971 which growed upto 36% and 9% in 2007.

Furthermore, Lonely parent were only about 4% which increased a bit hight to 12%. Overall, one person and lone parent houhold ratio was at same level which was 12%. However, couple with and with children, ratio was a bit fluctuated.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to cover the main trends in the table, noting changes in one-person, couple, and lone parent households between 1971 and 2007. However, there are some data inaccuracies and misreadings; for instance, the writer states that couple with dependent children 'growed upto 36%', when the figure actually decreased from 52% to 36%. Furthermore, non-dependent children changed from 10% to 9%, but the phrasing is unclear. Crucially, the response falls short of the 150-word minimum, containing only 144 words. This under-length impacts the overall development of the task, leading to a penalty under Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organised into a brief introduction and two body paragraphs, attempting to group information logically. Cohesive devices such as 'whereas', 'meanwhile', and 'furthermore' are used to link ideas. However, paragraphing is underdeveloped, with the second body paragraph becoming a dense block of mixed information that lacks smooth transitions. Referencing is occasionally weak or confusing, such as the sudden shift to 'Lonely parent', and the progression between the various sub-categories of family households feels mechanical rather than cohesive.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, attempting less common phrases such as 'subdivided into' and 'deliberately climbed'. However, there are notable spelling errors ('Britian', 'house hold', 'houhold'), and awkward collocations or word choices ('growed upto', 'increased a bit hight'). The vocabulary is repetitive in places, using basic structures to describe data movement, which limits the precision required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, using relative clauses and subordinate structures. However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several direct errors, including past tense morphology ('growed') and missing articles or prepositions ('Lonely parent were only about 4%', 'ratio was a bit fluctuated'). Subject-verb agreement issues also appear, such as 'household types includes' and 'ratio was at same level'. These errors occasionally distract the reader, though communication remains mostly clear.

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

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