Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-10-16

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 table illustrates the change in the number of people in two different household types such as one person and one-family in Great Britain between 1971 and 2007.

Overall, the percentage of one person households has increased from 1971 to 2007. The one-family households are further divided in two categories of couples and lone parents. The percentage of couples with no children and lone parents have increased while couples with children have declined.

Regarding one person household, it has the lowest share of 6% after the lone parents that is 4% initially in 1971. The percentage continuously increased and reached 12% in 2001 for both one person households and lone parents. This remained same until 2007.

In terms of one-family households, couple with dependent children has the highest percentage of 52 and lone parent has the lowest percentage of 4%. This households share kept declining and become 36% in 2007 still maintaining fisrt place while children with non depdent become lowest.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important patterns accurately: one-person households rose from 6% to 12%, lone-parent households increased from 4% to 12%, and households with dependent children fell from 52% to 36%. The overview also recognises the contrasting directions of change. However, coverage is incomplete and some comparisons are unclear. The table separates couples with no children, dependent children and non-dependent children, but the response groups these broadly as “couples with children” and does not report the rise in childless couples from 19% to 25%. The claim that non-dependent children “become lowest” is inaccurate: this category was 9% in 2007, below the 12% figures for one-person and lone-parent households, but not the lowest overall because lone parents were also 12%. Include the main categories and clarify rankings.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and two paragraphs describing details. This gives the reader a generally coherent route through the information, and phrases such as “Overall” and “In terms of” help signal the stages. However, the progression within the final paragraph is less clear: it moves from the highest and lowest figures to a decline, then to an unclear comparison involving non-dependent children. Some references, including “This households share,” are difficult to connect precisely to the category being discussed. Organise the details by clear trends—for example, rising categories together and declining categories together—and use explicit category names rather than “this” or broad labels. This would make the comparisons easier to follow and reduce abruptness.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing data, including “percentage,” “share,” “increased,” “declined” and “reached,” so the main trends are usually understandable. There is some variation in how you describe change, but several word choices and collocations are imprecise, such as “the change in the number” when the table gives percentages, and “maintaining fisrt place.” The phrase “children with non depdent” is also unclear, while spelling errors such as “fisrt” and “depdent” reduce accuracy. Use the table’s category labels consistently and choose standard data-reporting expressions. For example, describe a category as “accounting for” a percentage or say it “remained unchanged,” rather than relying on less natural phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, including the overview sentence contrasting increases and declines. Meaning is generally recoverable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “The one-family households are further divided in two categories” needs an article and the correct preposition (“divided into”), and “This households share kept declining and become 36%” has problems with agreement and verb form. In “the percentage of couples with no children and lone parents have increased,” the subject and verb do not agree clearly. There are also awkward sentence constructions, such as “it has the lowest share of 6% after the lone parents.” Check singular/plural agreement, past-tense consistency and sentence boundaries, while retaining the range of structures you attempt.

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