Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The bar chart compares the proportion of households in owned and rented accommodation in England and Wales from 1918 to 2011.

Overall, househoulds rented accommodation accounted the highest proportion, however gradully declined over the period of time. In contrast, household owned accommodation accounted the lowest percentage,

however, gradually climbed up over the period of time.

In 1918, households rented accounted for the highest proportion 78%, followed by 1939, 68% proportion. However, in 1953, the proportion remained same, but 1961, declined to 59%. Furthermore, in 1971, both household owned and household rented remain at on same position 50%. In

contrast, from 1981 to 2001, household owned rented dramatically decline to 31%. While in 2001, steadily increased ended to 35%.

In 1918, household owned accounted the lowest proportion 22%, while gradually rose to 31%, in 1939. From 1953 to 1971, slightly rose to 50%. however, 1971 to 2001, show a dramatic rise to 69%, but at end of period slightly declined to 65%.

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AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons between owned and rented accommodation from 1918 to 2011. An overview is successfully provided at the beginning, noting the contrasting long-term trends where renting declined and home ownership increased. Key data points, such as the 1971 crossover point where both accommodation types reached fifty percent, are highlighted appropriately. However, some parts of the response are more fully developed than others, and certain reported figures contain minor inaccuracies compared to the visual data, such as stating that the rental proportion reached thirty-one percent and then steadily increased to thirty-five percent when the actual figures fluctuate slightly differently. Overall, the task is adequately covered with relevant ideas, though further precision in data reporting would elevate the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt to group information logically by trend and time period. Paragraphing is used to separate the introduction, overview, and body details, which helps structure the response. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and referencing is not always clear, leading to occasional abrupt transitions between sentences. For instance, phrases like 'however, 1971 to 2001, show a dramatic rise' lack smooth connective tissue and precise referencing. Additionally, the misuse of cohesive devices and repetitive sentence openers limits the flow of information. While there is a discernible logical sequence from 1918 through to 2011, the progression between ideas requires more varied and accurate cohesive links to achieve a higher level of cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to statistical trends such as 'proportion', 'decline', 'climbed up', and 'dramatically'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, though this is sometimes accompanied by inaccuracy in word choice and collocation, such as 'household owned accommodation' instead of 'owner-occupied households'. Spelling and word-form errors are present, including 'househoulds' instead of 'households', 'gradully' instead of 'gradually', and 'remain at on same position' instead of 'remained at the same level'. These errors do not impede communication, as the reader can still grasp the intended meaning, but they restrict the lexical score by demonstrating limited precision and control over word formation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to vary sentence structures when describing trends over time. There are, however, frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, particularly with prepositions, verb forms, and subject-verb agreement, such as 'househoulds rented accommodation accounted the highest proportion' and 'household owned rented dramatically decline'. Punctuation is also erratic, with misplaced commas breaking up basic sentence patterns. While some sentences are accurate and communicate the trends effectively, the recurring errors in grammar and article usage require some effort from the reader to untangle, placing the grammatical performance firmly within this band.

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