Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-05

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 5.0)

The grouped bar compares the salary per year of the number of households in US in 2007, 2011, 2015.

Overall, 2015 generally recorded higher figures than in 2007 and 2011 across most categories, with the exception of income of 75,000 dollar per annum in 2015 is lower than others.

Specifically, in 2015, there were about 33 millions of household earning more than 100,000 dollar per year, which was significantly higher than the figure for 2007 and 2011 which is about 28 million and 26 million respectively. A similar pattern was observed in 2011, where there is most people earning 25,000 dollar per year.

However, a contrasting trend was observed in 2011 , where 75,000 was least. haafgifgdiqqqqqqqyug

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the ability to fully develop the task. While you have identified some main features, such as the growth in the highest income bracket, the analysis is incomplete and lacks sufficient detail across all categories. The inclusion of nonsensical text at the end ('haafgifgdiqqqqqqqyug') further detracts from the professional tone and task completion. To improve, ensure you provide a more comprehensive overview of all data points and avoid irrelevant content. You must extend your analysis to cover the trends for all income groups provided in the chart to achieve a higher band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is organized into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs, which provides a basic structure. However, the progression of ideas is hindered by the brevity of the text and the inclusion of incoherent characters at the end. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Specifically' and 'However', but the logical flow between sentences is weak due to the limited development of the data. To improve, ensure that each paragraph has a clear focus and that transitions between sentences are used to build a cohesive argument rather than just listing isolated figures.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is generally limited and repetitive. You rely on basic terms like 'figures', 'earning', and 'number of households'. There is an attempt to use some academic vocabulary, but the range is insufficient to demonstrate flexibility. Furthermore, there are errors in word choice, such as 'salary per year' instead of 'annual income' and '33 millions of household' (should be '33 million households'). To improve, focus on using more precise terminology related to data description and ensure correct pluralization and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. For example, 'the exception of income of 75,000 dollar per annum in 2015 is lower than others' is grammatically awkward and confusing. There are also issues with subject-verb agreement and article usage (e.g., 'in US' should be 'in the US'). To improve, focus on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy, particularly with verb tenses and plural forms, and practice constructing more complex, error-free sentences.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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