Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-08-21

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)

This chart compares the number of households in millions across five annual income bracket in the year 2007, 2011 and 2015.

overall, the number of houses earning $100,000 or more saw most significant growth over the period. While the residents who earn $25,000-$49,999 shows substantial growth over the years. In contrast to the citizens who made less than $25,000 grows steadily from 2007 to 2011 but remain constant during 2015.

Whereas, the people who earn $50,000-$74,999 remain relatively stable over the years. On the other hand, the households who made $75,000-$99,999 fluctuate a little from the year 2007 to 2011 and again increase slightly in the year 2015.

But the most notable trend was the highest bracket. The houses who made $100,000 or more decrease steadily from 30 million in the year 2007 to 28 million in year 2011 and jump to the all time high about 34 million in year 2015.

In summation, the data point to a clear shift towards higher income level over time. Overall, the figures suggest growing income disparity among US household. Thus, it is inferred about economic inequality became more pronounced by 2015.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have successfully identified the main features and provided a clear overview of the data. You covered all income brackets and made relevant comparisons between the years. However, there are some inaccuracies in your interpretation of the data. For instance, you state that the $100,000+ bracket decreased from 30 million to 28 million, but the chart shows it was approximately 28 million in 2007 and 30 million in 2011. Additionally, your conclusion regarding 'economic inequality' is an inference that goes beyond the data provided, which is generally discouraged in Task 1. To improve, ensure your data points are precisely read and focus on reporting the facts rather than drawing external socio-economic conclusions.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized into clear paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of the data. You use cohesive devices such as 'In contrast to', 'On the other hand', and 'In summation' to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical or misused, such as starting a paragraph with 'But' or 'Whereas'. The referencing is generally clear, though the flow between sentences could be smoother. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of linking words more naturally and ensure that paragraph transitions feel less abrupt.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'fluctuate', 'steadily', and 'significant growth'. However, there are some issues with word choice and collocation. For example, you use 'houses' to refer to 'households', which is inaccurate in this context. You also use 'most significant growth' where 'the most significant growth' would be grammatically correct. There is some repetition of basic verbs like 'made' and 'earn'. To improve, try to vary your vocabulary by using synonyms for 'increase' and 'decrease' and ensure you use precise terminology for statistical data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader. For example, 'the residents who earn $25,000-$49,999 shows' contains a subject-verb agreement error. You also have tense inconsistencies, such as mixing present and past tenses when describing historical data ('grows' vs 'grew'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but some sentences are fragmented or lack necessary articles. To improve, pay closer attention to subject-verb agreement and maintain a consistent tense when describing trends over a past period.

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

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