Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-30
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 graph demonstrates the proportional change in households, who accomodated in owned and rented houses from 1918 to 2011 in England and Wales.
Overall, it is clear that the highest percentage of households was observed in rented accommodation. The lowest count was noticed for people who owned house.
In terms of rented households, the maximum people accomodated was over 75 percenta ge in 1918, however this trend reduced throughout the period. The proportion of rented households remained same in 1939 and 1953, with 68%. In 1971, both owned and rented accommodators levelled off with half quarter population. As years passed, the number of people opting rented house reduced considerably, and later in 2011 slighlty increased.
Owned residential population reported high in 1991 and 2001 with 68% and 69% respectively. It started with least percentage which was 23 in 1918 and significantly exceeded by the end of the year with 40%. And, in 1939 and 1953 the proportion was equal for owned households with 32%.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student covers the main features of the chart, noting the general trends for both owned and rented accommodation between 1918 and 2011. An overview is attempted at the beginning, stating that rented accommodation had higher percentages overall, though some statements contain inaccuracies. For instance, the student claims that in 1971 both types 'levelled off with half quarter population' (which is mathematically incorrect, as they intersected at 50%), and incorrectly states that owned accommodation 'significantly exceeded by the end of the year with 40%' when discussing 1918. Despite these data misreadings and slightly confused phrasing in places, the main comparative trends are reported, satisfying the core requirements of Task 1 at a mid-level.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response has an overall logical arrangement, beginning with an introduction, moving to body paragraphs discussing the specific trends, and attempting a summary. However, paragraphing is somewhat disjointed, with ideas split awkwardly across short paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used ('Overall', 'In terms of', 'As years passed'), but referencing and transitions are at times mechanical or unclear, such as the sudden shift into discussing owned households in the final paragraph. Progression lacks smooth flow, leading to a choppy reading experience. Overall, the organizational structure meets the criteria for Band 5.5 to 6.0, settling safely at 5.5 due to mechanical transitions and abrupt paragraph shifts.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'proportional change', 'accommodated', and 'opted'. However, there are numerous lexical and spelling errors throughout the response, including 'accomodated' (spelled incorrectly twice), 'percentage' chopped off as 'percentage', 'slighlty', and awkward word choices such as 'rented accommodators' and 'owned residential population'. These errors occasionally cause slight confusion for the reader, though the general meaning remains discernible. This puts the lexical range firmly in the Band 5.5 territory.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses ('households, who accomodated in owned and rented houses') and introductory adverbial phrases. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with several persistent errors such as missing articles ('owned house', 'rented house'), awkward passive/active confusions ('people who owned house', 'the number of people opting rented house'), and tense inconsistencies. While communication is not entirely impeded, the frequent grammatical errors mean that error-free sentences are not in the majority. This warrants a band score of 5.0.
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.