Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-13

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 6.0)

The chart illustrates the number of houses that were under ownership and on rent in the United Kingdom and Wales. The unit of measurement used is percentage.

Overall, maximum number of houses were rented from 1918 to 1961. However, most of houses were owned from 1981 to 2011. In 1971, there were same percentage of houses owned or rented.

There were approximately 22 percent owned houses and 78 percent rented accomodation in 1918. There were approximately 68 percent rented homes and 32 percent owned accomodation in 1939 and 1953. There were around 41 percent owned houses and 68 percent rented accomodation in 1961. There were equal number of houses owned or rented in 1971.

There were only 60 percent owned houses and 40 percent rented accomodation in 1981. There were 68 percent and 32 percent houses owned and rented respectively in 2011. There were around 38 percent rented homes and almost 64 percent owned houses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully covers the main features of the chart by identifying the overarching trends and selecting key years for comparison. The introduction paraphrases the prompt reasonably well, although it refers to 'the United Kingdom and Wales' instead of 'England and Wales' as specified in the rubric. The overview captures the shift from predominantly rented accommodation in the first half of the period to predominantly owned accommodation in the second half. Key data points, such as the figures for 1918, 1971, and 2011, are appropriately reported and compared, fulfilling all requirements of an Academic Task 1 response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay displays a logical overall progression, beginning with an introduction, followed by an overview paragraph, and concluding with a detailed body section containing specific data points. However, paragraphing is somewhat weak; the long body section should ideally be broken down into two distinct paragraphs (e.g., separating the first half of the century from the later decades) to improve readability. Cohesive devices are used, but they tend to be repetitive, with almost every sentence starting with 'There were' or 'Overall'. This mechanical sentence-starting pattern restricts progression to a higher band level.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying statistical information using terms like 'percentage', 'owned houses', and 'rented accommodation'. However, the range of vocabulary is limited and repetitive, with the phrase 'There were' appearing constantly. There are also minor lexical inaccuracies, such as misspelling 'accommodation' as 'accomodation' and referring to the country as the 'United Kingdom and Wales' instead of 'England and Wales'. While the language communicates the core message effectively, the lack of varied lexical items prevents it from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though simple structures heavily dominate, particularly through the repetitive use of existential 'there are/were' clauses. Grammatical control is generally fair, with recognizable simple sentences being accurate. However, there are a few notable errors, such as 'there were same percentage' instead of 'there was the same percentage', and awkward phrasing like 'on rent' instead of 'rented'. Punctuation is generally sound, but the repetitive sentence structures limit the demonstration of a wide range of grammatical features.

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.