Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-27

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 percentage of households owned and rented accommodation in England and Wales between 1918 and 2011.

Overall, owned accommodation trend experienced a significant growth over the period. In contrast, rented accommodation option continue to declined and make a low in 2001 and high in 1918.

In the year 1918, the majority of the households prefered to lived in rented houses. 78% households lived in rented accommodation while only 22% have their own houses. By 1971, the demand of rented and owned households declined and each contributing 50%. Afterwards, owned houses trend again rose, but rented houses demand contiuously decline and make a low of 31%.

Truning to 1991, 68% households have owned property and 32% contained rented houses. Next two decade, private property remained in demand. Between 1991 to 2011, it remained in range around 62% to 70% own property and 32% to 36% rented houses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the chart’s subject and give a relevant overview: ownership generally rose, while renting fell, with the two reaching 50% in 1971. Several figures are close to the chart, including 1918 and 1991, but the overview is imprecise: renting did not simply continue to decline, as it rose from 31% in 2001 to 36% in 2011, while ownership fell from 69% to 64%. The claim that both categories declined by 1971 is also inaccurate; they converged at 50%. The final range of 62–70% ownership is too broad and obscures the late reversal. The response is 138 words, below the 150-word minimum, so some key stages and comparisons remain underdeveloped.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and paragraphs reporting figures. Time markers such as “In the year 1918,” “By 1971” and “Turning to 1991” help the reader follow the chronology. However, progression is not consistently clear: the overview says renting continued to decline, then the final paragraph mentions a range that includes its rise in 2011 without explaining that change. “Next two decade” is also an unclear link, and “Afterwards” does not specify the period being discussed. Organise the details into clearer phases—early decline in renting, convergence in 1971, and the later peak and reversal—and use linking phrases to show comparisons rather than simply moving between dates.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “owned accommodation,” “rented accommodation,” “majority” and “remained in demand,” so the main subject is generally understandable. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “owned accommodation trend,” “make a low,” “demand of rented and owned households” and “contained rented houses.” These expressions sometimes make the intended comparison less precise. Spelling errors such as “prefered,” “contiuously” and “Truning” are also noticeable. Aim for standard chart-reporting language and use the same terms consistently: for example, describe the percentage of households that owned or rented their homes, and say that a figure “reached a low” or “rose.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response includes both simple statements and attempts at more complex forms, and the overall meaning can usually be followed. However, errors occur frequently in sentence structure and verb forms. For example, “percentage of households owned and rented accommodation” needs a grammatical link such as “in” or “that owned or rented”; “owned accommodation trend experienced” lacks a clear subject construction; and “continue to declined” combines incompatible verb forms. In “prefered to lived,” the verb after “to” should be in its base form, while “each contributing 50%” is an incomplete construction in this context. Practise accurate subject–verb patterns and use complete clauses when comparing figures. More reliable simple sentences would improve clarity before you add complex structures.

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