Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-09

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 people in many household by sorts of Household and family in Great Britain between 1971 and 2007.

Overall, the most noticeable feature is that the proportion of dependent children decrease from 52 to 36, while the proportion of lone parent increase from 4 to 12 between 1971 and 2007.

We look first at the proportion of one person, which had climb from 6% to 12% by 2007 and the proportion of no children rise from 19 to 25. The figure of lone parent had insanely increased from 4% to 12% by 2007.

Turning to the remaining figures, the proportion of dependent children decline from 52 to 36 by 2007. The another household type, which called non-dependent children the proportion of non-dependent children increased from 10 to 11 by 1991, by the end of the period the proportion decline from 11 to 9 between 2001 and 2007.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main contrast accurately: dependent-child households fell from 52% to 36%, while lone-parent households rose from 4% to 12%. You also report the overall increases in one-person and childless-couple households, and the small rise then fall in non-dependent-child households. However, the overview focuses on only two categories, and the report does not compare the final figures across all household types or highlight that dependent-child households remained the largest category despite declining. Some details are imprecise: the non-dependent figure was 9% in 2001 and remained 9% in 2007, rather than declining between those years. A clearer overview and more accurate, selective comparisons would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and two detail paragraphs. Phrases such as “Overall,” “We look first,” and “Turning to” help signal movement between sections. However, the progression is not fully controlled: lone-parent data appears in both the overview and the first detail paragraph, and dependent-child data is repeated in the overview and final paragraph. The final sentence is also difficult to follow because it repeats the category name and combines several time points without clear separation. Grouping related trends once, then presenting their changes in a logical sequence, would reduce repetition and make the comparisons easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “proportion,” “dependent children,” “lone parent,” and “between 1971 and 2007,” so the topic is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or too informal for an academic report. “Insanely increased” is inappropriate in tone, while “many household by sorts of Household” is awkward and imprecise. Repetition of “the proportion” and “by 2007” also limits flexibility. Aim for accurate collocations such as “the share of households,” and use neutral trend verbs such as “rose,” “increased,” or “declined.” Check word forms and phrasing so that category labels are expressed naturally.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response includes some longer sentence attempts, particularly when describing changes over time, but control is inconsistent and the sentence patterns are mostly simple. Errors include “the proportion … decrease” and “the proportion … increase,” where the verbs need past-tense forms, and “which called non-dependent children,” which is missing a form of “be.” In “the proportion of non-dependent children increased …, by the end of the period,” two clauses are joined with a comma, making the relationship unclear. There are also problems with articles and number, as in “many household.” Use past tense consistently for the historical data, form relative clauses correctly, and separate or connect clauses with appropriate punctuation.

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