Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-18

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 given bar chart illustrates the proportion of households in owned and rented accommodation in England and Wales from 1918 to 2011.

Overall, at the starting period highest community was living in the rented accommodation, then gradualy reduction to those figures and became equal to the who were staying in the owned property. In contrast, the numbers were opposite for other people who owned a housholds and after connecting to the same point, the proportion for both groups go in reverse direction that was in the previous years.

By 1918, more than 75% of people who used to live in a rented house, compared with who's households were owned accounted for around 20%. By 1939 to 1961, slightly fall is noticed in the percentage of public who rented a house and vise versa for the owned accommodations. In 1971, both communities are represented 50%.

However, in the period of 1981 to 2022, value goes in a opposite ways. By 2001, owners of a property stood at around 70% and then a marginly decrease is notices in 2011. Over the half of period, noticeable reduction was recorded for households in owned accommodation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the chart, such as the initial dominance of rented accommodation and the crossover point in 1971. However, the analysis is hampered by inaccuracies in reporting the data. For instance, the claim that 'in 2001, owners of a property stood at around 70%' is not supported by the provided chart, and the reference to '2022' is outside the scope of the data provided (which ends in 2011). While the main trends are identified, the lack of precision in data reporting and the inclusion of incorrect dates limit the effectiveness of the summary.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the flow of ideas is often disjointed. The use of cohesive devices is mechanical and sometimes misused, such as 'in contrast' and 'however,' which do not always logically connect the preceding and following sentences. The referencing is occasionally unclear, particularly when referring to 'other people' or 'both communities.' While there is a basic attempt at logical progression, the lack of clear, cohesive links between sentences makes the text feel somewhat fragmented and difficult to follow in places.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The range of vocabulary is limited and repetitive. There are several instances of awkward word choices and incorrect collocations, such as 'gradualy reduction,' 'marginly decrease,' and 'over the half of period.' The student struggles to use precise terminology for describing trends, often relying on basic descriptors. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequent errors in word formation and collocation indicate a limited range that struggles to convey information with the necessary precision for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors throughout. Issues include subject-verb agreement ('both communities are represented 50%'), incorrect verb tenses ('value goes in a opposite ways'), and awkward phrasing ('compared with who's households were owned'). Punctuation is also inconsistent. While the errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to cause some difficulty for the reader and demonstrate a lack of control over complex structures.

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

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