Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-19

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 chart illustrates how many individuals own a house or if it is rented in England and Wales from 1918 to 2011.

Overall, we can see that at the beginning of the period the percentage of rented accommodations was higher, while from 1991 and above the owned were lower.

According to the data shown, in 1918, it is clear that the proportion of possessed property was around 21%, but it rose to 31% in 1939 and 1953 and even more in 1961, reaching 40%. In 1971, the two data points given shared the same ratio; however, in 1981, the number of people who bought cabins surpassed the ones who did not, and for the last three years, they were all above 60%.

As for citizens who leased homes, they were definitely a major crowd; unfortunately, they decreased to near 65% in the second and third years and even more in the fourth. After 1971, when both of them had a similar population, the rate fell to 40% in all of the next years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the chart, identifying the key trend of the crossover point in 1971. However, the analysis is somewhat inconsistent. For instance, the description of the data for rented accommodation is vague, referring to 'second and third years' rather than specific dates, which makes the report harder to follow. Additionally, the phrase 'bought cabins' is an inaccurate interpretation of 'owned accommodation' in the context of housing statistics. While the main trends are identified, the lack of precision in reporting specific data points and the misinterpretation of the subject matter prevent a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'According to the data shown', and 'As for' are used to guide the reader. However, the progression of ideas is occasionally hindered by imprecise referencing, such as 'the second and third years' and 'the fourth', which forces the reader to look back at the chart to understand the timeline. The use of 'they' is sometimes ambiguous, making it unclear whether the writer is referring to the percentage of owners or renters.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision. The writer uses informal or inaccurate terms like 'possessed property' and 'bought cabins' instead of standard academic terminology like 'home ownership' or 'owner-occupied housing'. Phrases like 'major crowd' and 'similar population' are also stylistically inappropriate for a formal report. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general meaning, the lack of academic register and occasional word-choice errors limit the score to a 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'from 1991 and above the owned were lower' and 'the two data points given shared the same ratio'. The sentence structure is generally clear, and errors do not impede communication. However, the control over complex structures is inconsistent, and there is a lack of variety in sentence construction. The punctuation is generally correct, but the overall grammatical accuracy is at a level where errors are noticeable but do not cause significant difficulty for the reader.

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