Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-20

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 4.5)

The chart illustrated the number of household in the us by their annual income in 2007,2011 and 2015 .

overall, the income was more and number of household was also increasing in order and accounted for better earning.

In 2007 the numbe rof household was less than all of the following year . few individual were only earning in [redacted phone] $yearly while other went for lower and in 2015 the some people only earned more as compared to 2007 while most earn more than other .In 2015 the income was more as compared to 2007 and 2011 . Some household earn 25000 to 49999 as second and folloed by less than 25000 as highest.

The most dramatic change was seen in 2015 while minimum household earning was morethan other less. Accordingly the more household remain as top in 2015 and less household with low earning was in 2011. As seen the household with $[redacted phone] to [redacted phone] was same in all year while white graph fluctated little in all years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The response attempts to address the prompt by discussing the US household income chart for 2007, 2011, and 2015. However, the task achievement is significantly hindered by unclear expression, vague comparisons, and several inaccuracies regarding the data. For instance, the student states that the household with $500,000 to $749,999 was the same in all years, which misreads the chart (the brackets are in thousands, not half a million). The overview is extremely vague ('the income was more and number of household was also increasing'), failing to capture the main trends effectively. While some categories are mentioned, key comparisons between income brackets are largely confused or absent, leading to an under-developed response that only partially addresses the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The essay is divided into short paragraphs, attempting to group ideas such as the introduction, an overview, and body details. However, the progression of ideas is extremely difficult to follow due to poor logical sequencing and confusing references. Cohesive devices are either missing or misused, resulting in disjointed sentences that lack clear connections. For example, transition phrases are absent, and sentences within the body paragraphs jump between years and income brackets without a clear structure. Paragraphing is present visually, but the internal organisation of information fails to create a coherent overall arrangement.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is very basic, repetitive, and often inaccurate. The student uses simple terms like 'household', 'income', and 'earn' repeatedly without much variation. There are also severe lexical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'numbe rof household', 'few individual were only earning in 100000 $yearly', and 'white graph fluctated little' (misinterpreting gridlines or colors). Less common lexical items are attempted unsuccessfully, and lexical control is generally weak, frequently straining the reader's understanding of the intended data points.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

Grammatical control is weak throughout the response. There is a very limited range of sentence structures, and attempts at complex sentences result in severe structural errors and incomprehensible clauses (e.g., 'in 2015 the some people only earned more as compared to 2007 while most earn more than other'). Punctuation and capitalization are frequently neglected, and tense consistency is poor. Errors are extremely frequent and often impede communication, making it difficult to discern the exact meaning of several sentences.

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

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