Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-21

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 bar graph illustrates the amount of households that have been owned and rented in England and Wales at 1918 to 2011.

Overall, rented households have significantly decreased over time. Conversely, owned households increased over time.

Rented households started off at approximatley 78% in 1918 and dropped to 68% in 1953, before falling off to 58% in 1961. The figure constituently dropped to 50% in 1971, and hit a steep low at approximately 32% 20 years later. Rented household percentage went from 31% in 2001 to 35% in 2011, increasing slightly.

Meanwhile, Owned households accounted for approximately 22% in 1918, increased to approximately 32% and remained steady until 1953. The figure climbed from 41% to 50% in 1971. The growth continued to rose to 60% in next 10 years and approximtely 67% a decade later, before hitting a peak at 68 in 2001. The percentage then went down to nearly 65% at the end of the timeline.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by selecting and reporting the main features of the chart regarding owned and rented accommodation between 1918 and 2011. An overview is provided, noting the main contrasting trends between the two categories. Key data points, such as the starting and ending percentages and significant turning points (e.g., 1971 and 2001), are accurately cited from the visual data, with only minor discrepancies like 'approximatley 78%' instead of 77%. The comparisons are clear and relevant throughout the response, meeting the requirements of an Academic Task 1 well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is organized logically into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and two body paragraphs detailing the specific data for rented and owned households respectively. There is a clear progression of ideas from the start to the end of the timeline. Cohesive devices such as 'Meanwhile', 'Conversely', and 'before hitting a peak' are employed adequately to connect ideas, though some transitions like 'falling off' or 'constituently dropped' reflect minor unnaturalness. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two main data series.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for Task 1, utilizing appropriate terms such as 'percentage', 'increased', 'decreased', and 'peak'. However, there are some noticeable vocabulary and spelling errors, such as 'amount of households' instead of 'proportion of households', 'approximatley', 'constituently' (presumably meaning consistently), and 'rose' instead of 'rise'. Despite these lexical inaccuracies and spelling slips, communication is not impeded, and the student successfully attempts less common phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating various time markers and relative clauses (e.g., 'Rented households started off at... and dropped to... before falling off to...'). There are several grammatical and mechanical errors present, such as 'at 1918 to 2011' instead of 'between 1918 and 2011', capitalization issues ('Owned households'), and an incorrect verb form in 'The growth continued to rose'. However, the majority of sentences are understandable, and these errors only occasionally cause minor distraction rather than impeding overall comprehension.

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