Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-20

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 compares the proportion of homes which are occupied by owners and rented by residents in England and Wales between the year 1918 and 2011.

Overall, earlier majority of the people does not had their own accommodations, so they used to live in a rented home. However, with the passage of time, more people started to live in their owned homes, while fewer lived in rented accommodation.

Back in the 1918, only few people in England and Wales lived in their owned homes but majority of the accommodations were occupied by tenants. However, the proportion shows that own homes were still occupied by few people in 1939 as compared to the rented house. Although the proportion was similar to 1939 in the year 1953. In 1971, the figures for owned and rented accommodations shows that it was equally occupied by people of England and Wales. Over the years, in 1981 the figure shows that majority of the people had their own house. Whereas the rental accommodations were slightly less occupied by tenants. Although, the figures for 1991 and 2001 is same as most of the residents lived in their own property. However, only few people resided in rental homes which was slightly low from the previous years. But in 2011, the proportion of owned accommodations had decreased as compared to previous decade, but it still remains higher as compared to rental houses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully addresses the main task requirements by presenting an overview and reporting key features from the chart. The overall trend toward home ownership is correctly identified, and the crossover point around 1971 (50%) is properly highlighted. However, some data points are described with vague or imprecise language, such as 'Back in the 1918, only few people... lived in their owned homes' and referring to 1991 and 2001 figures as 'same' when the chart shows slight variations (68% to 69%). Despite minor generalisations and loose handling of exact figures, all parts of the prompt are covered, earning a solid Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is organized into a clear introduction, an overview paragraph, and a detailed body paragraph. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as 'Overall,' 'However,' 'with the passage of time,' and 'Although.' However, the progression within the body paragraph becomes somewhat repetitive and mechanical, relying heavily on sequential time markers (‘In 1971,’ ‘Over the years, in 1981,’ ‘in 1991 and 2001,’ ‘in 2011’) rather than smooth discursive transitions. Furthermore, paragraphing could be improved by splitting the long body section into two distinct time periods. This places the response firmly at Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting to vary terms with phrases like 'proportion,' 'occupied by owners,' 'tenants,' and 'accommodation.' However, there are notable word choice and collocation inaccuracies, such as 'earlier majority of the people does not had their own accommodations' and 'rental accommodations were slightly less occupied.' Furthermore, there is repetition of common descriptors like 'few people' and 'proportion.' Spelling is generally accurate, but the restricted control over less common vocabulary limits the score to Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, featuring subordinate clauses introduced by 'while,' 'although,' and 'as compared to.' However, grammatical accuracy is weak, containing persistent foundational errors such as 'does not had their own accommodations,' 'Back in the 1918,' 'shows that it was equally occupied,' and 'figures for 1991 and 2001 is same.' These frequent tense and agreement errors occasionally cause minor difficulty for the reader, aligning the grammar with Band 5.0.

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