Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-07-29

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 graph below shows that the number of family in the US by their yearly income in 2007, 2011, and 2015.

Overall, we can see that all the household income had increased with some fluctuation except the families who were earning between 75,000$ to 99,999$. And families who earn 100,000 and more are the highest throughout the years.

In detail, we can see that families who were earning less than 25,000$ in 2007 they were about 25 millions households in 2001 are 29 households and in 2015 little drop about 28 million families. Secondly, people who were earning 25,000$ to 49,999$ are 24 millions families and in 2011 rise up to 30 million families and in 2015 a small dip had been seen about 28 million households. Thirdly, families who earned $50,000-$74,999 and $75,000-$99,999 were similar throughout every year 20 million and 15 million families respectively. Lastly, households who earned $100,000 or more are the highest in all the years, in 2007 they were 30 million families small decline in 2011 about 25 million families and in 2015 sudden incline about 33 million families and achieve all time high.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have successfully identified the main trends and provided relevant data points to support your summary. You covered all three years and the various income brackets. However, there are some inaccuracies in your reporting of the data (e.g., mentioning 2001 when the chart only shows 2007, 2011, and 2015). Additionally, some of your data descriptions are slightly confusing, such as stating that income increased for all groups while the data shows fluctuations and some declines. To improve, ensure you double-check the figures against the visual aid and focus on highlighting the most significant changes rather than listing every single data point.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is organized into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the information. You use transition signals like 'Overall', 'In detail', 'Secondly', and 'Lastly' to guide the reader. However, the flow within the paragraphs is sometimes mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as the sentence 'they were about 25 millions households in 2001 are 29 households'. Improving the use of cohesive devices to link sentences more smoothly would enhance the overall structure. The paragraphing is appropriate for an IELTS Task 1 response.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You have a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the main features of the chart, using terms like 'fluctuation', 'decline', and 'all time high'. However, there are some errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'number of family' (should be 'number of families') and 'sudden incline' (a more natural choice would be 'sharp increase'). Some phrasing is repetitive, and the use of currency symbols and units is occasionally inconsistent. Expanding your range of reporting verbs and nouns would help you achieve a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement (e.g., 'all the household income had increased') and pluralization (e.g., '25 millions households'). There are also issues with sentence fragments and tense consistency, such as mixing past and present tenses when describing the data. To improve, focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and ensuring that your verb tenses consistently reflect the time periods mentioned in the prompt.

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