Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-12
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 5.5)
The chart below illustrates the number of households (in millions) in the US by their annual income in 2007,2011 and 2015.
Overall,the number of US house holds earning $100,000 or more increased consideraly over the period.In contrast,the figure for the other income group showed only minor changes.The $75,000-$99,999 group had the lowest househols in all three years.
In 2007,approxmiately 25 million house hold earned less than $25,000,While around 27 million earned between $25,000-$49,999.The figures for the $50,000-$74,999 and $75,000-$99,999 groups were about 21 million and 14.8 million respectively.Meanwhile,around 30 milllion house earned $100,000 or more.In 2011,the number of house hold earning less than $25,000 increased to around 29 million,while the goup $25,000-$49,999 rose to approxmiately 30 million.The figures for the remaining three groups were around 22 million,14 million and 27,5 million respectively.
By 2015,the number of house hold earning less than $25,000 had fallen around 28 million,While the $25,000-$49,999 category remained at around 29 million respectively.The $50,000-$74,999 group was at around 21 million,while the group $75,000-$99,999 slightly increased and reached at around 15 million.The most noticeable change was in the highest-income house hold which rose increased at approxmiately 33 million.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response covers all parts of the task by identifying the main trends and providing relevant data points for each year. You successfully highlighted the growth in the highest income bracket and the relative stability of others. However, the report could be improved by ensuring more precise comparisons between categories. For instance, while you mention the $75,000-$99,999 group had the lowest number of households, you could have more explicitly contrasted this with the dominant groups. The data is generally accurate, though there are minor inconsistencies in reporting figures, such as the use of 'respectively' when it is not strictly necessary or grammatically correct in the context of your sentence structure.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. The progression of ideas is clear, moving from the general trend to specific data points. You use some cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'Meanwhile', and 'By 2015' to link ideas. However, the use of punctuation is inconsistent, particularly with missing spaces after commas (e.g., 'Overall,the', '2007,approxmiately'). Additionally, some cohesive devices are used mechanically. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring correct punctuation would enhance the flow and readability of the text significantly.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'illustrates', 'increased considerably', and 'noticeable change'. However, there are several spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'consideraly', 'house holds', 'approxmiately', and 'goup'. These errors are frequent enough to be noticeable. To reach a higher band, you should aim for more precise word choices and ensure accurate spelling. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the meaning, the recurring spelling mistakes and minor word-choice inaccuracies limit the score in this criterion.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you attempt to use complex sentences, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation. For example, 'rose increased' is redundant, and 'the highest-income house hold which rose increased at approxmiately' is grammatically awkward. There are also issues with subject-verb agreement and pluralization, such as 'the highest-income house hold' (should be plural) and 'the goup $25,000-$49,999'. Punctuation errors, specifically missing spaces after commas, occur throughout the entire piece, which detracts from the overall accuracy of the writing.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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