Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-03

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)

The bar chart below illustrates the amount of households in the united states by their comparison of annual income in the years 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Overall, it is inferred that the $100,000 or more income households reported the crucial proportion in 2007 and 2015. While $75,000 to $99,999 earned the least number of income in every decades.

At first glance, less than $ 25,000 income accounted for 25 millions of households in 2007. Additionally, in 2011, approximately 29 millions households reported less than $25,000. Similarly, it was depicted 27 millions of households in the year 2015. Furthermore, $25,000 to $49,999 earned income accounted 27 millions of households. In 2011 and 2015, around 30 millions and 28 millions of households earned $25,000-$49,999 respectively.

Moving towards further details, $50,000-$74,999 income households remained unchanged in years 2007, 2011 and 2015 each. Moreover, $75,000-$99,999 income households depicted approximately 14 millions, 13 millions and 15 millions, which is the lowest number of households in united states. Finally, households who earned $100,000 or more shown the largest proportion of households around 29 millions, 27 millions and 34 millions in 2007, 2011 and 2015 respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all parts of the task and provides a clear overview. You successfully identified the main trends, such as the dominance of the $100,000+ category and the relative stability of other groups. However, there are some inaccuracies in data reporting. For instance, you stated that the $50,000-$74,999 category remained 'unchanged', which is not supported by the chart, and your claim that the $75,000-$99,999 group was the 'lowest number' is incorrect, as the $100,000+ group was actually the highest in some years, but other categories were lower in others. Ensure you double-check the figures against the visual data to avoid factual errors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. You use cohesive devices such as 'Additionally', 'Similarly', 'Furthermore', and 'Moving towards further details' to guide the reader. However, some of these transitions feel slightly mechanical or forced. The referencing is generally clear, though the flow between sentences could be improved by varying the sentence structure rather than relying heavily on 'X accounted for Y millions'. Overall, the progression of ideas is coherent and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'proportion', 'illustrates', and 'depicted'. However, there are some issues with word choice and collocation. For example, 'reported the crucial proportion' is unnatural; 'accounted for the largest share' would be more precise. Additionally, there are minor errors such as 'every decades' (should be 'every decade') and 'shown the largest proportion' (should be 'showed'). To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise academic collocations and ensure subject-verb agreement.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with pluralization ('25 millions of households' should be '25 million households') and verb tense consistency. Some sentences are missing articles or have awkward phrasing, such as 'it was depicted 27 millions'. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on mastering the use of 'million' as a quantifier and ensuring consistent verb forms when describing past data.

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