Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-01

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)

In numerous societies, property ownership is regarded as a major life milestone and a necessity, whereas renting is seen as merely a temporary arrangement. This preference is primarily driven by the desire for long-term financial security and cultural perceptions of stability. In my view, while this mindset promotes personal financial stability, it is ultimately a negative situation overall due to the economic pressures and social inequalities it creates.

There are two main reasons why homeownership is so highly valued in many cultures. First, real estate is widely recognized as a safe and lucrative long-term investment. Unlike paying rent, which yields no financial return, mortgage payments contribute to equity, allowing individuals to build wealth over time as property values appreciate. Second, cultural and psychological factors play a significant role. Owning a home provides a sense of permanent security, independence, and social status, assuring individuals that they cannot be evicted by landlords or subjected to sudden rent increases. In many traditional societies, homeownership is also viewed as a crucial step before settling down or starting a family.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response fails to address the prompt entirely. The task requires an Academic Task 1 report summarizing a chart showing the percentage of households in owned and rented accommodation in England and Wales between 1918 and 2011, making comparisons and reporting main features. Instead, the student has written an essay responding to a completely different Task 2 prompt about the personal and social views of property ownership versus renting. Because no data from the chart is reported and the required format is completely missed, the response sits at the lowest levels of task achievement, failing to engage with the visual data provided.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

Despite being written for the wrong task type, the text itself displays a coherent overall arrangement and logical progression. The writer uses clear paragraphing to separate the introduction from the body paragraph discussing reasons for homeownership. Cohesive devices such as 'First', 'Unlike', and 'Second' are employed to guide the reader through the points smoothly, though referencing can sometimes feel slightly mechanical. To reach higher bands, the structural organization would need to align with Task 1 conventions, such as incorporating an overview paragraph summarizing main trends rather than an argumentative essay structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.5

The response demonstrates a wide, fluent, and flexible range of vocabulary suitable for a much higher academic level. The student skilfully employs uncommon lexical items and sophisticated collocations such as 'major life milestone', 'long-term financial security', 'property values appreciate', and 'subjected to sudden rent increases'. Word choice and collocations are used with a high degree of precision, and there are virtually no spelling or word-choice errors that impede communication. The vocabulary easily satisfies the requirements for advanced lexical control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 8.0

The grammatical range and accuracy of the writing are exceptionally high. The student uses a wide variety of complex sentence structures effortlessly, including participial phrases and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'allowing individuals to build wealth over time as property values appreciate'). The vast majority of sentences are completely error-free, with only very occasional, negligible slips. Control over punctuation, verb forms, tenses, articles, and prepositions within complex grammatical patterns is exceptionally strong, reflecting a high level of grammatical mastery.

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.