Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 bar graph illustrates the distribution of households in the US categorized into five annual income brakets (less than $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000 or more) across 2007, 2011 and 2015.

It can be observed that people earning between $50,000-$74,999 stayed roughly the same across all three years, with the figure slightly exceeding 20 million. Similarly, the number of individuals with the yearly income of 75 to 100 thousand dollar did not changed significantly, although there figure were slowly increased to 15 million in 2015.

On the other hand, the number of lower-class individuals rose from 25 million in 2007 to around 27 million, than a slight decrease by nearly 2 million in 2015. A similar pattern was observed in the figure of lower middle class. Lower middle class accounted for almost 27 million in 2007 which had gone up in 2011 reaching to exact 30 million, following a decline of 2 to 3 million in 2015. However, a noticable number of people with the annual income of $100,000 or more went down from nearly 30 million in 2007 to 27 million in 2011, but a significant growth was seen in 2015 exceeding 33 million.

Overall, the middle class and upper middle class people remained almost steady throughout the period, whereas the lower class, lower middle class and upper middle class individual experienced fluctuation.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of US household income distribution across the three given years. An appropriate overview is provided at the end, and key comparisons are made between the different income brackets. Data is generally cited correctly from the chart, such as the stable figures for the $50,000-$74,999 group and the fluctuations in the lowest and highest brackets. However, there are a few minor inaccuracies in reading precise figures from the chart (for instance, the lowest bracket in 2007 is 25 million rather than the student's implication, and some values deviate slightly from the transcription). Nevertheless, the overall selection and reporting of trends satisfy the requirements for a Band 6.5 to 7.0, and the response is well-supported overall.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs dealing with specific income groups, and an overarching summary at the end. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'Similarly', 'On the other hand', and 'However'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different categories of information. However, there are some mechanical transitions and minor referencing issues, such as 'although there figure were slowly increased', which slightly disrupt the flow. Progression is generally clear throughout, placing the text solidly in the Band 6.5 to 7.0 range.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, incorporating terms like 'distribution', 'categorized', 'fluctuation', and 'bracket' (spelled 'braket' initially). There are attempts at less common vocabulary such as 'lower-class individuals' and 'lower middle class'. However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors, including 'braket', 'did not changed', 'there figure', and 'noticable'. These errors do not impede communication, but they restrict the lexical score to a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as introductory participial phrases ('The bar graph illustrates...') and subordinate clauses ('although there figure were slowly increased...'). There are, however, several grammatical and mechanical errors throughout the text, including tense inconsistencies and subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'did not changed', 'there figure were slowly increased', 'individual experienced'). While these errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main points, their frequency prevents the paper from achieving a higher band score.

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