Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

This bar chart illustrates the distribution of households across the US based on their annual income of the years 2007,2011 and 2015.

Overall, the bar chart shows fluctuations across the years with the worst year being 2015 whilst the best year in terms of per household income being 2011.

In 2007, approximately 29 million households were making less than 25,000 US dollars a year whereas there were closer to 25 million households making in 2011. Followed by approximately 33 million households making less than 25,000 US dollars a year showing exponential increase in this income section across the time period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to meet the minimum word count requirement of 150 words, which significantly impacts the task achievement. Because the response is only 100 words, it is incomplete and fails to cover all parts of the task. The overview provided is inaccurate, as it claims 2015 was the 'worst' year and 2011 the 'best' without clear evidence from the data. Furthermore, the response only discusses one income category (less than 25,000 USD), ignoring the other income brackets presented in the chart. To improve, you must describe all categories and provide a more comprehensive summary of the trends across all three years.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is organized into short paragraphs, but the progression of ideas is limited due to the lack of content. There is an attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'whereas' and 'followed by', but the connection between sentences is weak. The reference to 'this income section' is clear, but the overall structure is underdeveloped. To achieve a higher band, you need to ensure that each paragraph has a clear focus and that ideas are linked logically throughout the entire report, rather than just within individual sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task but lacks the range and precision required for higher bands. Phrases like 'exponential increase' are used, but they are not supported by the data provided. There is some repetition of basic structures. To improve, you should incorporate more varied vocabulary related to data description, such as 'fluctuate', 'decline', 'peak', or 'remain stable', and use more precise terminology to describe the income brackets and the changes observed over the three-year period.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'income of the years' (should be 'income for the years') and 'making in 2011' (which is missing the object). Punctuation is also inconsistent, specifically with the spacing after commas (e.g., '2007,2011'). While the errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to affect the overall clarity. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct preposition usage will help improve your accuracy.

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

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