Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-28

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 percentage of households living in owned and rented accommodation in england and wales between 1918 and 2011.

overall it is clear that house ownership has increased significantly over the period and on the other hand household in rented accommodation follow the opposite trend. most noticeable feature is that, during 1971, both figures became almost equal and after that owning a house became more common than renting in England and Wales. Between 1918 and 1961, the trend of renting a house was at its peak but after 1971 the trend changed, and people start owning houses and the decline of renting houses begins. During 1961, the proportion of households owning increased rapidly. And in 2001, household ownership reached its peak at 70%. Renting steadily declined after 1971, reaching its lowest point around 30% in 2001, However, there is a small increase in renting accommodation in 2011, while household ownership fell slightly.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by providing an overview of the main trends and making clear comparisons between owned and rented accommodation. Key features, such as the inversion of trends in 1971 and the peak in 2001, are accurately reported and supported by figures from the chart. For instance, the student notes that 'during 1971, both figures became almost equal' and that in '2001, household ownership reached its peak at 70%,' which closely aligns with the data. While the response is concise, it covers the temporal span effectively from 1918 to 2011. There are minor inaccuracies in the exact percentage peak (the chart shows around 69% in 2001, but 70% is well within the acceptable margin for approximate chart reading), but these do not detract from the overall clarity and completeness of the response. The requirements of Task 1 are thus met solidly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a clear overall progression from the introductory sentence through the main body trends to the final year data. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'overall it is clear,' 'on the other hand,' and 'after that.' However, the text suffers from a lack of proper paragraphing, as it is presented in a single, continuous block of text rather than distinct paragraphs for the introduction, overview, and body details. This impacts the visual organization and makes the cohesion slightly mechanical in places. Additionally, referencing could be smoother, as phrases like 'the trend of renting a house was at its peak' are slightly repetitive. Despite these structural limitations, the information flows logically from start to finish, earning a solid Band 6.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student employs an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully utilizing terms such as 'percentage,' 'proportion,' 'house ownership,' and 'decline.' There are some attempts at less common vocabulary and collocation, such as 'opposite trend' and 'reached its peak.' However, vocabulary control is inconsistent, and there are noticeable issues with word choice and form, such as 'household in rented accommodation' (should be plural 'households') and 'people start owning' (tense inconsistency). Spelling and capitalization errors are also present, notably the failure to capitalize proper nouns like 'england and wales' at the beginning of the text. Because the lexical range is sufficient to convey the message despite these slips, a Band 6 is appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and time conjunctions such as 'between 1918 and 2011' and 'after 1971 the trend changed, and people start owning houses.' However, grammatical accuracy is weak, particularly regarding punctuation, capitalization, and tense consistency. The entire text lacks proper sentence-initial capitalization, and there are punctuation errors such as comma splices ('in 2001, household ownership reached its peak at 70%. Renting steadily declined...'). Verb tenses shift awkwardly between past and present forms, as seen in 'people start owning houses' instead of 'started.' While the meaning remains generally understandable, the frequency of basic grammatical and punctuation errors prevents the response from achieving a higher band.

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