Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-11
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 given Bar chart illustrates the data on number of household's annual income ,in 5 different subcategories ,during the years 2007,2011 and 2015 particularly in the US country .
Overall, households with $100,000 or more was at the highest ,with the assumption in the year 2011 . On the other hand , the least significant category was seen by households with the range between $75,00-$99,999 annual income during the entire period .
The categories of number of households consisting range of $24,000 -$49,999 and less than $25,000 were near to each other with a difference of more or less 4 million households . Moreover , nearly 30 million households were earning $100,000 or more which was then slightly decreased to nearly 27 million in 2011, followed by a rapid rose in 2015 making up to more or less 33 million which was a significant number in the entire period .
On the other hand , number of households with $75,000-$99,999 remains the least significant category in the mentioned periods , with approximately sink to 14 millions in 2007 to more or less 13 milion in 2011 marking the least significant of all categories in the displayed duration , following this ,there was a slight improvement in the figure with 15 millions in 2015 , but still remains the significant category .
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the chart and makes relevant comparisons. However, there are some inaccuracies in the data interpretation. For example, the statement that households with $100,000 or more were at the highest in 2011 is incorrect, as the data shows this category peaked in 2015. Additionally, the description of the $75,000-$99,999 category as the 'least significant' is slightly confusing; while it is the lowest in terms of frequency, the phrasing could be more precise. The overview is present but lacks a clear summary of the most significant trends across the three years.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'On the other hand', and 'Moreover'. However, some transitions feel mechanical or slightly misused, such as 'following this' to start a sentence. The referencing is generally clear, but the flow between sentences could be improved to create a more natural progression of ideas. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different income categories.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. There are several instances of awkward phrasing, such as 'rapid rose' (should be 'rapid rise') and 'sink to 14 millions' (should be 'fell to 14 million'). The use of 'significant' is repetitive and sometimes used incorrectly to describe the size of a category rather than its statistical importance. Spelling errors, such as 'milion', also detract from the overall quality. A wider range of vocabulary related to data trends would improve the score.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('households... was at the highest') and incorrect article usage ('the US country'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, with unnecessary spaces before commas and periods. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to affect the clarity of the report. More attention to proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy is required.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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