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 bar graphs illustrates the percentage proportion of households in owned and rented accomodation in England and Wales from 1918 to 2011.

Overall , households in owned accomodation in these two cities showed massive growth from 1918 to 2011 . On the other hand , households in rented accomodation declined over the period .

In 1918 , owned accomodation in England city accounted for 22% while the proportion number increased to 32% during 1939 to 1953. With the passage of time , figure rose from 40 to 50% at the end of 1971. Freehold accomodation increased from 60% to 68% from 1981 to 1991 . Percentage of owned private property showed little to less growth from 2001 to 2011.

Consequently , Households percentage in rental property showed the highest growth during 1918. Over the decades , the figure dropped immensely . From 1939 to 1961 , percentage dropped from 69% to 59% . From 1971 to 2011 , the percentage of households in rental property declined drastically.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response provides a clear overview of the main trends, noting the growth in owned accommodation and the decline in rented property. However, the report is marred by inaccuracies in data interpretation. For instance, the claim that rental property showed the 'highest growth' in 1918 is incorrect, as the chart shows it was at its peak percentage then, not growing. Furthermore, the description of the data is somewhat fragmented, and the reference to 'England city' is factually incorrect as the prompt specifies 'England and Wales'. While the main features are identified, the lack of precision in reporting the figures and the misinterpretation of the trends limit the score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'On the other hand', 'With the passage of time', and 'Consequently' are used to link ideas. However, the use of 'Consequently' is logically inappropriate in this context, as the decline in rental property is not a direct result of the growth in owned property in the way the transition implies. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the referencing of data points could be more fluid.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, though there are consistent spelling errors, such as 'accomodation' (should be 'accommodation'). The range is somewhat limited, relying on repetitive phrases like 'percentage of' and 'showed growth'. There is an attempt to use some descriptive language, such as 'declined drastically' and 'rose', but the overall lexical control is basic. To reach a higher band, you should aim to use a wider variety of synonyms for 'increase' and 'decrease' and ensure accurate spelling of key terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'The bar graphs illustrates' (subject-verb agreement) and 'proportion number' (redundant phrasing). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with unnecessary spaces before commas (e.g., 'Overall ,'). While the meaning is generally clear, these recurring errors in basic grammar and punctuation prevent the response from reaching a higher band. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and refining sentence construction will help improve accuracy.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.