Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-07-26

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 7.0)

A bar charts provides detailed information about the evolution of annual income of US households. The study is made across three separate years, 2007, 2011 and 2015 and categorizes households into five different categories.

Overall, it is noticeable that through the years the polarization of wealth is increasing. In other words, both higher and lower income households numbers are growing.

In fact, from 2007 to 2015 households with less than $25,000 income and ones with $100,000 or more went respectively from 25 and 29 to 28 and 33 millions of US households. However, a slight dip in the number of the higher incomes households could be seen in the 2011. With both highest income categories decreasing with few per cents which could be explained by multiple causes such as economical crises. Thus directly increasing, in the same year, the numbers of the lowest earning households. For instance numbers of households with less than $25,000 a year and those with $25,000 to $49,999 peaked during 2011. On the other hand, what is considered to be the middle class, their numbers stayed still during all the studied years at around 21 millions.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

You have successfully identified the main trends and provided a clear overview of the data. You highlighted the polarization of wealth and correctly identified the stability of the middle-income group. However, the report could be improved by providing more precise data points to support your claims. For example, when mentioning the increase in the lowest and highest income brackets, specifying the exact figures for 2007 and 2015 would strengthen the analysis. Additionally, ensure that your comparisons are consistently accurate; while you identified the 2011 dip, a more detailed breakdown of the specific categories affected would have provided a more comprehensive summary of the chart's features.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, an overview, and supporting body paragraphs. You use cohesive devices such as 'In fact', 'However', and 'On the other hand' to guide the reader through the data. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the general trend from the specific details. To reach a higher band, ensure that the transition between sentences is smoother; some sentences feel slightly disconnected. For instance, the link between the economic crisis and the specific income categories could be more explicitly stated to improve the flow of your argument.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey your ideas clearly, using terms like 'polarization', 'categorizes', and 'evolution'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'few per cents' (which should be 'a few percentage points') and 'economical crises' (which should be 'economic crises'). While you attempt to use more sophisticated vocabulary, some phrasing is slightly unnatural. Expanding your range of collocations related to data description—such as 'remained stable' instead of 'stayed still'—would help elevate your score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as 'A bar charts provides' (subject-verb agreement) and 'in the 2011' (incorrect article usage). Additionally, some phrasing is slightly awkward, such as 'numbers of households... went respectively from 25 and 29 to 28 and 33 millions'. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of articles will significantly improve your accuracy.

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