Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-02

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 following bar graph illustrates the number of households in the US by their yearly income taken at a gap of 3 years in 2007 ,2011 and 2015.

Overall, the annual income of most of the US household have increased except for the people who earned between $50,000-$74,999 whose annual earnings were constant throughout all three years.

Detailed analysis of the graph showcases the rise and fall in the total number of US households who earned less than $25,000 as it increased from 25 million households in 2007 to 29 million households till 2011 but fell slightly reaching 28 million households at the end of 2015. The same goes for people who earned between $25,000 to $49,999 as it grew from 27 million households in 2007 to 30 million households in 2011 but declined nominally reaching 29 million households in 2015.

On the other hand, the number of people who earned between $75,000 to $99,999 had seen a decline in 2011 as compared to 2007 reaching 13 million households from 14 million households but grew up unexpectedly in 2015 reaching 15 million households. The people who earned more than $100,000 also follow the same trend reaching 33 million households till the end of 2015 while the number of US households who earned between $50,000 to $74,999 remained constant at 21 million in all 3 years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have successfully identified the main trends and provided relevant data points to support your descriptions. You covered all categories and years, making appropriate comparisons. However, your overview is slightly inaccurate; you state that the income of 'most' households increased, but the data shows that the two lowest income brackets actually saw an increase in the number of households, while the middle-to-high brackets fluctuated. Additionally, the 'gap of 3 years' mentioned in the introduction is technically incorrect as the years provided are 2007, 2011, and 2015, which represents a four-year interval. Ensuring data accuracy in your summary is crucial for a higher band score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized, with a clear introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs that group the income categories effectively. You use cohesive devices such as 'On the other hand' and 'The same goes for' to transition between ideas. However, some of the referencing is slightly mechanical, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. The paragraphing is appropriate, and the progression of information is easy to follow, which meets the requirements for a Band 7.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'illustrates', 'showcases', 'nominally', and 'fluctuated'. There are some minor issues with collocation and word choice, such as 'grew up unexpectedly' (which is slightly informal) and 'taken at a gap of 3 years'. To improve, try to incorporate more precise academic vocabulary to describe trends, such as 'remained stagnant' or 'experienced a marginal decline'. Your vocabulary is sufficient to convey meaning clearly, but lacks the sophistication required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While your meaning is always clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'the annual income of most of the US household have increased' (subject-verb agreement error) and 'the number of people who earned... had seen a decline' (unnecessary use of past perfect). Punctuation is generally acceptable, though there are some inconsistent spaces around commas. The errors do not impede communication, but they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score in this criterion.

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

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