Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-18
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 chart shown, illustrates data of households in England and Whales between 1918 and 2011. Comparing the amount of owned accommodation and rented accommodation through percentage.
Overall, it is apparent that famillies who own houses or apartments have increased throuhout the years ,while famillies that rent gradually decreased.
In 1918, households who didn't rent took up a mere 22% of the total household, while on the other hand, households who did, accounted for 78%.But in 2011, it is homeowners who take up the majority, with around 63 percent, with the remaining percentage being non-homeowners.
People who rented houses/apartments were the majority for decade.More specifically, they took up more than half the amount of total households between 1918 and 1961. However,a decade later, the ratio of households who owned accommodation and ones who didn't evened out, marking the start of their gradual decrease for the years to come.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student covers the main trends in the chart, noting the overall increase in homeownership and the corresponding decline in rented accommodation between 1918 and 2011. Key data points are cited, such as the 1918 figures and the 2011 majority for homeowners, alongside the observation that renting was the majority for decades until 1971 when the figures evened out at 50%. However, there are minor misreadings of the precise percentages (e.g., stating 22% and 78% for 1918 when the chart shows 23% and 77%, and 63% for 2011 instead of 64%). Furthermore, the word count is 148 words, falling just short of the 150-word minimum requirement. Consequently, the task achievement is penalized slightly for length and minor data inaccuracies, aligning with Band 5.5.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The text is organized into four short paragraphs, including an introduction, an overall summary, and two body paragraphs detailing specific time periods. There are some attempts at cohesive devices, such as 'Overall, it is apparent', 'In 1918', and 'However, a decade later'. However, progression is somewhat disjointed due to awkward phrasing and mechanical transitions. Paragraphing is present, but the overall structural flow is impacted by the brief length and abrupt transitions between ideas. Referencing is generally clear, but the logical flow suffers from minor jumps in thought, supporting a Band 6.0 rating.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, incorporating terms like 'households', 'accommodation', 'homeowners', and 'ratio'. However, there are several spelling and word choice errors, such as 'Whales' instead of Wales, 'famillies', and 'throuhout'. Expressions like 'households who didn't rent' are rather basic and repetitive. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general meaning, the noticeable spelling errors and limited flexibility prevent the score from reaching higher bands, fitting comfortably at Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'Comparing the amount of owned accommodation and rented accommodation through percentage' (which is a minor fragment/participial phrase error) and 'People who rented houses/apartments were the majority for decade.' There are punctuation and grammatical slips, including missing articles ('for decade') and awkward phrasing. Despite these errors, communication is not severely impeded, and the complex structures attempted show some control. This performance reflects the descriptors for Band 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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