Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-08

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 table given compares the income earned by millions of different households in the US in the year 2007, 2011, and 2015.

Overall, the number of US families with annual income between $75,000 and $99,000 was the least throughout the period while those with income of $[redacted phone] and above were the majority in 2015. However the number of people with annual income of $50000-$74999 remained unchanged in the three years.

In 2007, households with less than $25000 annual income was only 25 million. Those with income between $25000 and $49000 were about 27 million as families with yearly earning of $50,000-$74,999 million were slightly above 20 million. Meanwhile, households with income of $75000-$99999 were just below 15 million whereas those at $[redacted phone] or more were approximately 29 million.

For 2011, households with less than $25000 annual income slightly increased to about 29 million. Those with income between $25000 and $49000 went up to 30 million. Meanwhile, households with income of $75000-$99999 and $[redacted phone] or more dropped modestly to approximately 14 million and 27 million respectively.

By 2015 more households annual income was at $[redacted phone] and above since the number shot up to 34 million. By contrast, about 27 million and 28 million people earned less than 25000 and [redacted phone]0 respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response provides a clear overview of the main trends and selects key data points to support the summary. You successfully identified the overall trend for the highest and lowest income brackets. However, there are some inaccuracies in data reporting; for instance, you mention the $50,000-$74,999 category remained 'unchanged' in the three years, but the chart shows fluctuations. Additionally, you refer to 'people' when the data specifically measures 'households'. To reach a higher band, ensure that data points are transcribed with absolute precision and that the distinction between households and individuals is maintained throughout the report.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding summary. The use of cohesive devices such as 'Meanwhile', 'By contrast', and 'However' helps to guide the reader through the comparisons. Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the years, which aids readability. To improve, ensure that the transition between sentences is smoother; some sentences feel slightly disjointed. Additionally, ensure that referencing is precise—for example, when you use 'those', ensure it clearly refers back to the specific noun phrase intended to avoid ambiguity.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'majority', 'modestly', and 'fluctuated' (implied). There are some minor inaccuracies, such as the phrase 'households annual income was at', which is grammatically awkward. You also use 'people' instead of 'households' in the final paragraph, which is a slight lexical inaccuracy given the context of the chart. To achieve a higher score, try to incorporate more precise reporting verbs and nouns, such as 'experienced a marginal increase' or 'remained relatively stable', to show a more sophisticated command of academic language.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical slips. For example, 'households with less than $25000 annual income was' should be 'were' to agree with the plural subject. There is also a missing preposition in 'more households annual income was at', which should be 'more households' annual income was in the... bracket'. Punctuation is generally sound, but ensure that you check for subject-verb agreement errors, as these occur a few times throughout the text. Increasing the variety of complex structures would also benefit your score.

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

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