Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below shows the percentage of households in owned and rented accommodation in England and Wales between 1918 and 2011.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The above bar charts illustrates, the percentage of households in owned and rented accommodation in England and Wales between 1918 and 2011.

Overall, the household rented accommodation was dominant type until 1971 and after that the households owned accommodation was seen increasing till 2011.

The highest rented accommodation was nearly 75% in 1918 and owned household accommodation was 22% in 1939 and in 1953 it declined to around 68% and remained same, before declining further to 58% in 1961. In 1971 the figure for owned home and rented home were the same as 50% each.

After 1971, the owned home were increased to 60% in 1981 and reached to peak of 69% in 1991 and in 2001.However, it dropped slightly to 64% in 2011. By contrast, proportion of rented accommodation continued declined to 31% in 2001 and was slightly increased to 33% in 2011. There was seen sudden change after 1981.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the chart, identifying the crossover point in 1971 and the general trends for both categories. However, the analysis is somewhat mechanical, listing data points rather than synthesising the information into a cohesive narrative. While the overview is present, it lacks a degree of analytical depth. Some data points are slightly confusing, such as the mention of 1939 and 1953 in the context of owned accommodation, which makes the progression difficult to follow. To improve, focus on grouping data more effectively to highlight the overall trends rather than listing individual years.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organised into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the overview and the body paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'By contrast', and 'After 1971', which help guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly repetitive or mechanical. The referencing is generally clear, though the flow between sentences in the third paragraph is a bit disjointed due to the heavy reliance on listing statistics. Improving the variety of linking phrases would enhance the overall flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to describe trends using terms like 'dominant', 'peaked', and 'proportion'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'the household rented accommodation was dominant type' (should be 'rented accommodation was the dominant type') and 'continued declined' (should be 'continued to decline'). The range is somewhat limited, and the response would benefit from more precise academic vocabulary to describe the fluctuations in the data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'The above bar charts illustrates' (subject-verb agreement error) and 'the owned home were increased' (incorrect passive voice construction). Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor issues with article usage and verb tense consistency. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher band score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and consistent tense usage will improve accuracy.

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

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