Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-08

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 illustrates the proportion of households in owned and rented accommondation in England and Wales from 1918 and 2011.

Overall, households renting accommodation declined steadily throughout the period but increased for owned accommondation. Also, it appeares that residents preferd owning a household from 1918 to 1961, then started prefering renting over owning between 1981 and 2011.

the households in rented residential areas reached just under 80% in 1918, then slightly decreased to around 70% in 1939 and 1953. After a steadily decline from 1961 to 2001 receding to just over 30%, there was a slight increase to 2011. 1971 was the only year that the percentage of households owned equal to rented ones with 50%.

As for rented households, it started with just above 20% in 1918, in 1939 and1953, it reached above 30%, then started increasing with a constant rate till 2001. In 2011, it declined to finally reach above 60%

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the broad contrast between ownership and renting and include several relevant figures, such as renting at about 77% in 1918 and the two categories meeting at 50% in 1971. However, the overview is unclear and partly inaccurate: ownership did not rise throughout, since it fell from 69% in 2001 to 64% in 2011, while renting rose. The statement that residents preferred owning from 1918 to 1961 is also incorrect; renting was higher in every listed year up to 1961. Most importantly, the final paragraph reverses the series: it describes ownership figures as rented households and says they declined to above 60%. Select the main trends accurately, distinguish the two categories consistently, and give a clear overview of the crossover and late-period reversal.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and paragraphs containing details. Time markers such as “in 1918,” “from 1961 to 2001” and “In 2011” help the reader follow the timeline. However, progression is weakened by the unclear overview and, especially, by the final paragraph beginning “As for rented households,” which actually reports ownership figures. This makes the relationship between the paragraphs difficult to follow. The first detail paragraph also moves from a long trend to the 1971 comparison without a clear transition. Organise the body by series or by stages, use accurate references to each series, and connect the key comparisons more explicitly.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “proportion,” “declined,” “increased” and “reached,” so the main subject is generally understandable. However, some word choices and collocations are imprecise: “residential areas” does not mean rented households, and “prefer” suggests a personal choice that the chart does not establish. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “accommondation,” “appeares” and “preferd.” Repetition of “slight” and “started” limits variety, while “with a constant rate” is not a natural way to describe the trend. Choose precise terms for the two categories, vary trend verbs, and check spelling and collocation carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts both simple and more extended sentence forms, for example, “After a steadily decline from 1961 to 2001…, there was a slight increase to 2011.” However, control is uneven. In that sentence, “steadily” is used where the adjective form is needed, and the opening sentence uses “from 1918 and 2011” rather than the correct paired construction. The sentence beginning “In 1939 and1953” is awkwardly joined with commas, and the final paragraph contains a run-on sequence of clauses. Capitalisation is also inconsistent: “the households” begins a paragraph in lowercase. Use clearer sentence boundaries, check verb and adjective forms, and proofread punctuation and capital letters; these changes would make the trends easier to understand.

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