Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-12

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 gives the pecentage of rented and owned households' accommodation in England and Wales from 1918 to 2011.

Overall' households in rented accomnodation were most in numbers in the beginning untill 1971. Also, the households in the owned accommodation become most popular from the year 1991.

In early years in 1918s the rented households were way ahead than the owned household accommadations as 75% percentage were rented, and 21% owned. Moreover, in the years 1939 to 1953 rented households were still popular with almost 68%, compared to owned with just 31%. Finally the owned households came into shadow in the year 1961 with 40%.

It was the year 1971 when two accommodations become same in numbers with 50%. From the years 1981 and 1991, owned housholds become popular with 60% and 30% of rented. And the trend continued in the years 2001 and 2011.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the chart’s main contrast and describe the broad shift from renting to owning, including the point at which the figures meet in 1971. Several reported values are close to the chart, such as 68% rented in 1939 and 1953 and 50% for each tenure in 1971. However, the overview is unclear: ownership becomes the larger category from 1981, not 1991, and the final sentence does not report the 2011 reversal, when renting rises to 36% and ownership falls to 64%. The 1918 figures are also slightly inaccurate, and the statement that ownership “came into shadow” in 1961 does not clearly convey the comparison. The response is four words below the required minimum. Include a complete overview and report the later changes more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic paragraph structure, moving from an introduction and overview to earlier and later years. Time markers such as “In early years,” “Finally,” and “From the years 1981 and 1991” help the reader follow the chronology. However, progression is weakened by unclear or incomplete links between ideas. For example, “And the trend continued in the years 2001 and 2011” does not explain what continued, and it overlooks the change in direction in 2011. The overview also repeats the idea of which accommodation was more popular without clearly summarising the full trend. Use clearer comparisons and connect each period to the next, while ensuring the final paragraph reports the endpoint accurately.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing charts, including “percentage,” “compared to,” “trend,” and “popular.” However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations make the meaning awkward, as in “most in numbers,” “way ahead than,” and “came into shadow.” There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “pecentage,” “accomnodation,” and “housholds,” which reduce the accuracy of the presentation. Aim for precise, conventional chart language rather than conversational expressions. For example, describe one category as “accounting for a larger share” or say that ownership “overtook renting.” Check spelling carefully, especially in key terms repeated throughout the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response communicates its general meaning through mostly simple sentence patterns, with some attempts to use longer structures, such as “Moreover, in the years 1939 to 1953…” and “It was the year 1971 when…”. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in sentence construction, verb forms, agreement, and punctuation. Examples include “Overall' households,” “the households … become most popular,” and “two accommodations become same in numbers.” The sentence about 1981 and 1991 also lacks a clear grammatical comparison between the ownership and rental figures. Practise accurate past-tense reporting (“became,” “were”) and build comparisons with complete parallel clauses, such as “ownership rose to X, while renting fell to Y.”

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