Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-07-24

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below shows the number of households in the US by their annual income in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

The bar chart shows the number of households in the US by their annual income in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Overall highest number of households in the year 2007, 2011 and 2015 were occupied by highest income, lower middle income and again the highest income respectively. The lowest number of households in 2007, 2011 and 2015 were all occupied by upper middle income each of the three years.

The highest annual income of $100,000 or more had below 30 millions households in 2007 before falling down to around 27 millions in 2011 and then again rising to around 33 millions in 2015. The upper middle annual income of $75,000-$99,999 had around just below 15 millions households in 2007, then around 14 millions in 2011 and making a consistent approach reaching 15 millions in 2015.

The middle income of $50,000-$74,999 had around 21 millions households in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

The lower middle income of $25,000-$49,000 had around 27 millions households in 2007 before rising to just around 30 millions in 2011 and then falling slightly to around 28 millions in 2015. The lowest income less than $25,000 had 25 millions households in 2007 and the rising slighlty to around 28 millions before falling to just around 27 millions in 2015.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have successfully identified the main features and trends across the three years. The overview provides a summary of the highest and lowest points, which is a good approach. However, there are some inaccuracies in your data interpretation. For instance, you state that the lowest number of households in all three years was the 'upper middle income' group, but the chart shows that in 2007, 2011, and 2015, the $75,000-$99,999 category is consistently higher than the $50,000-$74,999 category in some instances, or that the lowest category is actually the $75,000-$99,999 group. Careful checking of the data points is essential to ensure accuracy in your reporting.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs focusing on different income groups. You use some cohesive devices like 'before falling down to' and 'then again rising to' to link ideas. However, the progression of ideas could be smoother. Some sentences feel slightly repetitive in structure, and the transition between the overview and the body paragraphs could be more sophisticated. Using a wider variety of linking words (e.g., 'subsequently', 'in contrast', 'meanwhile') would help improve the flow and coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information, such as 'annual income', 'households', and 'consistent approach'. However, there are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'making a consistent approach' which is not the most natural way to describe a trend. Additionally, you use 'millions' as a plural noun (e.g., '30 millions'), whereas it should be '30 million' when preceded by a number. Expanding your vocabulary to include more precise verbs for describing trends, such as 'fluctuated', 'remained stable', or 'peaked', would enhance your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, particularly with pluralization (e.g., '30 millions' instead of '30 million') and article usage. Some sentences are slightly awkward, such as 'Overall highest number of households... were occupied by highest income'. Despite these errors, the meaning is generally clear and communication is not impeded. To reach a higher band, focus on ensuring subject-verb agreement and refining the use of articles and prepositions. Increasing the variety of complex sentence structures will also help demonstrate better grammatical control.

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