Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-18

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 4.5)

The bar graph depicts the proportion of families in owned and rented accommodation in England and Wales from 1918 to 2011 .

Overall, households in homeownership had a highest figure . While rented accommodation homes rent had a lowest ratio during the period .

In 1918, owned rented households was the peaked at approximately 78% . Followed by owned accommodation decreased gradually over the period around 68% to 59% in England and wales between 1939 and 1961 . Additionally, households owned place to live dropped rapidly the ratio of around 50% to 38% from 1971 to 2011 respectively . On the one hand, rented residence was the lowest percentage of 25% in England .

On the other hand, families in rented housing had increased gradually more than last few years the proportion of 25% to 50% in Wales between 1918 and 1971. Similarly, the rented accommodation climbed dramatically by 68% over the next few month . Finally, rented housing slowly fell again around 62% in Wales from 1981 to 2011.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response3.5
Coherence and Cohesion4.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall4.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response attempts to describe both ownership and renting and includes an overview, but the main features are substantially misreported, which limits how fully it addresses the chart. It says ownership had “the highest figure” and renting “the lowest ratio,” without identifying the actual crossover at 50% in 1971 or the peak in ownership at about 69% in 2001. The opening data are also reversed: in 1918, renting was about 77% and ownership 23%, not the other way around. Later figures and trends are repeatedly confused, and references to “England” and “Wales” separately are unsupported because the chart combines them. Select the key overall pattern and report accurate comparisons for the two series.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a recognisable paragraph structure, with an introduction, an overview and two body paragraphs, and signposts such as “Overall,” “On the one hand” and “Finally” show an attempt to guide the reader. However, the progression is difficult to follow because the series are repeatedly mixed up: the paragraph beginning “In 1918” shifts from ownership to renting without clear reference, and the next paragraph gives another conflicting account. Some linking phrases, including “On the one hand” and “On the other hand,” do not establish a meaningful contrast. Organise the report around the two series or their shared turning points, and use clear references such as “the ownership rate” and “the rental share” to maintain continuity.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some task-related vocabulary, including “proportion,” “accommodation,” “gradually” and “climbed dramatically,” and it attempts to vary expressions for the two categories. However, several combinations are unnatural or unclear, such as “owned rented households,” “rented accommodation homes rent” and “families in rented housing had increased.” These choices make it harder to identify which figure is being described. “Over the next few month” is also an unsuitable time expression for a chart spanning decades. Use precise, consistent terms such as “homeownership,” “rented households,” “share” and “percentage,” and choose trend verbs that accurately describe the direction of change.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts a few different sentence forms, including an overview with “While” and sentences beginning “Additionally” and “Finally.” However, control is uneven, and errors in sentence construction and agreement often obscure the intended comparisons. For example, “households in homeownership had a highest figure” has an incorrect article and awkward structure, while “owned rented households was the peaked” combines incompatible forms. The fragment “Followed by owned accommodation decreased gradually” also lacks a workable grammatical connection to the preceding sentence. Practise building complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check articles, agreement and punctuation. A wider range will be more effective when these basic structures are controlled.

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.