Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-13

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 illustrates the number of households by their yearly income in the US in three different years.

Overall, the number of people earning $100,000 or more fluctuated before becoming the highest category, while people belonging to the $50,000-74,999 class became the most stable over the period.

In 2007, nearly 29 million people earned $100,000 or more, which was the highest among other categories. It declined in the year 2011, reaching around 27 million before soaring to approximately 33 million in 2015.

The group $75,000-$99,999 recorded stability, with minor fluctuation reaching around 15 million people in 2015.

Similarly, nearly 27 million people who generated revenue of $25,000-$49,999 in 2007 soared to 30 million in 2011 before falling to 28 million in 2015. Moreover, nearly over 21 million people earned $50,000-74,999 throughout the period. In 2007, people earning less than $25,000 were around 25 million, which rose to nearly 28 million in 2011 before slightly plunged to 27 million in 2015

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all parts of the task and provides a clear overview of the main trends. You successfully identified the key categories and compared the data across the three years. However, the analysis is slightly uneven; while you provide specific figures for most groups, the description of the $50,000-$74,999 category is underdeveloped, stating only that it remained at '21 million' throughout the period without noting the slight variations visible in the chart. To reach a higher band, ensure that all data points mentioned are accurate and that you consistently highlight the most significant differences and similarities across all categories provided in the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized, with a clear introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs that group information by income category. You use cohesive devices such as 'Similarly', 'Moreover', and 'while' to connect ideas. However, the transition between the overview and the body paragraphs is slightly abrupt. Additionally, the final paragraph is a bit dense, as it attempts to cover three different income brackets in a single block. Using more varied linking phrases and ensuring each paragraph has a clear focus would improve the flow and make the progression of information more sophisticated.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'fluctuated', 'soaring', and 'recorded stability'. There are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'slightly plunged', which is a contradictory collocation; 'plunged' implies a sharp, significant drop, making 'slightly' an inappropriate modifier. You also use 'generated revenue' to describe household income, which is slightly unnatural in this context. To improve, focus on using more precise collocations for describing trends and ensure that your descriptive adjectives match the intensity of the verbs you choose.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'nearly over 21 million', which is redundant, and 'the year 2011', which is slightly unnatural compared to simply saying 'in 2011'. The sentence 'people earning less than $25,000 were around 25 million, which rose to nearly 28 million in 2011 before slightly plunged to 27 million in 2015' contains a tense error ('plunged' should be 'plunging' to maintain parallel structure). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score.

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

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