Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-06

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 6.0)

The bar chart compares the number of households in millions in the US by their yearly salary in three different years-2007, 2011, and 2015.

Overall, highest income US households have the highest number of houses, whereas least houses belongs to the Americans with $75000-99,999 annual income. The slight variations were seen throughout the years.

To begin with, the number of people with the yearly salary less than $25,000 had 25millions households in 2007, the figures increased slightly to around 28 millions in 2011 before decreasing in 2015 by one point. Similar trend was noticed for people's income $25,000-$49,999 where the number of households increased to 30 millions in 2011 from 27 millions in 2007. While, the share of households remained same for US people earning $50,000 -$99,999 yearly at nearly 21 millions.

However, families with the income of $75,000- $99,999 has the least share of households in comparison with other categories. The figures decreased from 14 millions in 2007 to 13 millions in 2011 and again increased to 15 million in 2015. A considerable increase was observed in the share of household from 29 millions in 2007 to 33 millions in 2015 for people who has yearly income of $10,000 or more .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response provides a clear overview and selects key features for comparison. However, there are inaccuracies in data interpretation. For example, the statement that the 'highest income US households have the highest number of houses' is not supported by the chart, which shows the $100,000+ category as the highest, but the phrasing is confusing. Additionally, the final sentence mentions '$10,000 or more', which is a misreading of the '$100,000 or more' category. While the main trends are identified, these data errors prevent a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized into paragraphs, with an introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'To begin with', 'However', and 'while' are used to link ideas. However, the progression of ideas is occasionally hindered by awkward phrasing, such as 'While, the share of households remained same', where the punctuation is incorrect and the flow is slightly disrupted. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different income categories.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task, using terms like 'variations', 'figures', and 'share'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'least houses belongs to the Americans' and 'remained same for US people'. The repetition of 'households' and 'millions' is noticeable. More precise vocabulary related to data trends, such as 'fluctuated', 'remained stable', or 'peaked', would improve the lexical quality.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('least houses belongs', 'people who has') and article usage ('the highest number of houses'). Punctuation errors, such as the comma after 'While' and the inconsistent spacing in '$75,000- $99,999', are frequent. While these errors do not impede communication, they demonstrate a lack of control over complex structures.

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

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