Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-27

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 6.5)

The bar chart illustrates the ratio of households in England and Wales livingin in owned and rented accommodation over 93 years period from 1918 to 2011.

Overall, the period witnessed a dramatic reversal in hosuing tenure trends. While renting was by far the predominant accommodation choice in 1918, Homeownership grew steadily over tyhe decades to become the dominant from of housing by thye end of the period, depite a minor decline in 2011.

In 1918, nearly 80% of the household lives in renred accommodation, whereas only 22% owned their homes. Over the next decacdes, homeownership gradually rose, matching the proportion of rented households at exactly 50% each in 1971. Following this crossover point, the percentage of homowners surpassed renters for the first time.

By 1991 and 2001, homeownership peaked at around 69%, while rented household fell to a low of approximately 31%. However, In 2011, this trend slightly reserved: the percentage of households in owned accommodation dipped to roughly 65%. While rented households saw a modest increase to about 35%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features, selecting appropriate data points, and making relevant comparisons between households in owned and rented accommodation in England and Wales from 1918 to 2011. An effective overview is provided, highlighting the dramatic reversal in housing tenure trends and the crossover point in 1971. Key data points, such as the initial high proportion of renters (nearly 80%) and the peak of homeownership around 1991 and 2001 (69%), are accurately cited and supported by the visual data. Minor discrepancies in rounding (e.g., stating 22% instead of 23% for 1918 ownership, or writing 65% for 64%) are well within acceptable tolerance margins for IELTS Task 1.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.5

The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression from the introduction, through the overview, into the detailed body paragraphs. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different time periods and trends. Cohesive devices such as 'While', 'whereas', 'Following this crossover point', and 'However' are managed well to connect ideas and guide the reader smoothly through the temporal data. Referencing is clear throughout, and the essay maintains a coherent narrative from start to finish without noticeable mechanical or faulty cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates a sufficient and flexible range of vocabulary suited to describing statistical data and housing trends, employing terms like 'predominant', 'homeownership', 'crossover point', 'surpassed', and 'modest increase'. There are a few spelling and typographical errors, such as 'livingin' instead of 'living', 'hosuing' instead of 'housing', 'tyhe' instead of 'the', 'from' instead of 'form', 'thye' instead of 'the', 'depite' instead of 'despite', 'decacdes' instead of 'decades', 'homowners' instead of 'homeowners', and 'reserved' instead of 'reversed'. Despite these lapses, the lexical range is adequate for a Band 6.5 or 7.0, but the frequency of spelling errors pulls the score to a 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response demonstrates a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including subordinate clauses ('While renting was by far the predominant accommodation choice...') and participial phrases. There are several grammatical and mechanical errors, most notably the tense error 'nearly 80% of the household lives' (should be past tense 'lived'), as well as a punctuation fragment in the final paragraph ('While rented households saw a modest increase to about 35%'). However, these errors do not impede communication, and the majority of sentences are structured effectively, supporting a solid Band 6.5 performance.

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.