Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-20

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 provided bar chart illustrates the information about the number of households by yearly income in the United States in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Overall, the annual income of US households maintained a similar pattern in the given three years except for one income group among the five in the final year.

In 2007, around 30 million people earned $100,000 or more annually which is the highest number for that year, whereas people earning $75,000-$99,999 yearly were 14 million in number, the lowest for the year. In 2011, the number of households earning $100,000 or more went down a bit but the people earning $25,0000-$49,000 annually increased to 30 million. People earning less than $25,000 were the second highest groups in that year.

On the other hand, $100,000 or more yearly earners dramatically escalated to around 34 million in 2015, the highest in any category in any year, while less than $25,000 and $25,000-49,999 income groups declined slightly. Additionally, more than 50,000 dollar and 75,000 dollars income group hovered around 20 and 15 million number of households respectively throughout the ti

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all parts of the task and identifies key trends, such as the growth in the highest income bracket. However, the analysis is slightly uneven; while the 2007 and 2015 data are highlighted, the 2011 data is described in a somewhat fragmented manner. The overview is present but could be more analytical by explicitly contrasting the overall stability of lower brackets with the growth of the highest bracket. The inclusion of specific figures is good, though the final sentence is incomplete, which prevents a full summary of the data provided in the chart.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'whereas', 'on the other hand', and 'additionally' are used to link ideas. However, the flow is interrupted by the incomplete final sentence, which leaves the reader without a sense of closure. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the years and trends, but the transition between the 2011 data and the 2015 data could be smoother to better highlight the comparative aspect of the task.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, with attempts to use descriptive verbs like 'escalated' and 'hovered'. There are some minor inaccuracies, such as referring to 'people' instead of 'households' throughout the text, which is a slight misuse of the data labels. Additionally, the phrasing 'more than 50,000 dollar... income group' is slightly awkward. To reach a higher band, you should aim for more precise terminology regarding statistical trends and ensure consistent use of the units provided in the prompt.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical slips, such as 'the number of households... were 14 million' (should be 'was') and the inconsistent use of currency formatting. Punctuation is generally correct, but the incomplete final sentence is a significant error that impacts the overall grammatical control. While the meaning is clear, the lack of a finished sentence structure at the end of the response indicates a need for better proofreading and time management during the writing process.

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

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