Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-09

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 following gives information about the percentage of households in owned and rented accommodation in England and Wales between 1918 and 20011.

Overall, the percentage of households in owned accommodation increased with time in contrast with the percentage of households in rented accommodation.

If we looked deep into it, the percentage of households in rented accommodation was close to 80 percent in 1918 while percentage of owned accommodation was only 22 percent. In 1971, rented household accommodation and owned household accommodation has same percentage which is 50 percent.

Furthermore, After 1971, there was sudden increase in owned accommodation while we can see a clear decrement of percentage in rented household accommodation. In 2011, the percentage of households in owned accommodation was close to 65 percent and the percentage of households in rented accommodation was close to 25 percent, this percentage is slightly higher when we compared with amount of percentage back in 2001.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main contrast and give a useful overview: ownership generally rose while renting declined, and the two figures met at 50% in 1971. The opening and closing figures are also broadly accurate. However, the account is brief and omits important stages, including the continued rise in ownership to about 69% in 2001 and its subsequent fall to 64% in 2011. The claim that ownership showed a “sudden increase” after 1971 oversimplifies a gradual rise, and rented accommodation in 2011 was about 36%, not close to 25%. The response is 137 words, below the required 150, which limits its coverage. Add accurate intermediate comparisons and describe the late reversal precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction and overview to selected details, and phrases such as “Overall” and “In 1971” help signal the stages being discussed. However, the progression is limited: most of the detail is compressed into one paragraph, and the final sentence joins two separate comparisons with a comma, making the relationship less clear. “Furthermore” does not introduce a genuinely additional feature, while “If we looked deep into it” is an awkward transition for a formal report. Organise the details into a paragraph for the earlier years and one for the later trend, and use linking expressions only where they clarify a real contrast or sequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “percentage,” “owned accommodation,” and “rented accommodation,” so the subject remains understandable. There is also some attempt to vary wording with “increased,” “decrement,” and “slightly higher.” However, the range is limited and several choices are unnatural or imprecise: “looked deep into it” is informal, “decrement” is not a natural choice here, and “sudden increase” does not accurately describe the gradual trend. Repetition of “percentage of households” also makes the report less concise. Aim for precise chart language such as “rose steadily,” “declined,” “peaked,” and “reversed,” while keeping the accommodation categories consistent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple statements and more complex comparisons, including “Overall, the percentage … increased … in contrast with…” and the sentence beginning “Furthermore, After 1971…”. Meaning is generally recoverable, but errors in verb forms, articles, and sentence boundaries are noticeable. For example, “accommodation has same percentage” should use past tense and an article (“had the same percentage”), and “while percentage of owned accommodation” needs “the.” The final sentence is a comma splice, joining two independent clauses with only a comma. Capitalisation after “Furthermore” is also inconsistent. Use past tense consistently for the historical data and check articles and punctuation when combining clauses.

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