Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
the bar chart beneath shows the number of households in the US by the comparisen of thier annual income in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
there are three years that are taken on x-axis and the number of households which are in millions are shown on y-axis.
In 2007 the the people with high income with one lac or more contains high number of households thst are around 30 million and the least one are [redacted phone]9 dollors have around 14 million and the other three categories are in between these ranges.
the year 2011 has gradually high households. the indiviuals having highest and 2nd highest anuual income have slightly low households then year 2007. while it is obsereved that income with lowest ans 2nd lowest have gradually increased their households by crossing and aroundly touching 30 million .while the remaining ones are same as that of previous year.
in 2015 highest income holders had instantly increased with highest households .lower one and 2nd lower one increased in this year the middle ones was same and annual income with [redacted phone]9 touched 15 million this time.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response attempts to address the task by summarizing information from the bar chart regarding US households by annual income in 2007, 2011, and 2015. However, the coverage of data is limited and contains inaccuracies. For instance, the writer states that in 2007 'people with high income... contains high number of households thst are around 30 million', whereas the highest category ($100,000 or more) was actually 29.5 million, and a similar figure was seen in lower brackets. The overview is weak, and comparisons between categories are poorly articulated. The response meets the minimum length requirement, but the lack of precise data reporting and under-developed comparisons place it at Band 5.0.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The text lacks clear overall progression and paragraphing is poorly handled. The student opens with two separate introductory sentences that act like isolated paragraphs before launching directly into the body without clear structural divisions for different years. Cohesive devices are minimal, repetitive, and often misused, such as starting consecutive sentences with lowercase letters ('the bar chart', 'there are three years', 'the year 2011'). Referencing is also confusing at times, making it difficult to follow the logical flow of ideas between the various income brackets across the three years. This meets the criteria for Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is basic, repetitive, and noticeably limited for an Academic Task 1 response. The writer relies heavily on simple words and phrases such as 'high households', 'highest', 'lowest', and 'middle ones'. There are also several spelling and lexical errors throughout the text, including 'comparisen', 'thier', 'indiviuals', 'anuual', 'obsereved', and 'ans'. The attempt to use less common items is very weak and unsuccessful. These recurring errors and restricted range constrain the lexical score to Band 4.5, rounded to Band 5.0 based on general adequacy of basic terms.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
Grammatical control is weak throughout the response. The text is characterized by a very limited range of sentence structures, primarily consisting of simple or faultily joined complex sentences. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('people... contains', 'income... have'), incorrect prepositions ('on x-axis', 'in 2007 the the people'), and missing articles. Punctuation and capitalization are completely ignored, with sentences starting with lowercase letters and run-on structures joined improperly. These persistent errors cause noticeable difficulty for the reader, fitting the Band 4.5 to 5.0 descriptors.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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