Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-23
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 given bar chart illustrates the number of households in the US by their annual income in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
The people earning more than 100K dollars peaked in 2015 which is evident from the count of 34 million people residing in this category. The count of employees who had annual income between 75K dollars and 99K dollars remained almost same within 3 years (around 15 million) with a minor decline in 2011 (14 million) and 2007 (14.5 million). Moreover, count of workers who had annual salary between 50K dollars and 74K dollars, was also maintained within 3 years with no noticeable change. In 2007, 25 million people were recorded to have annual income of less than 25K dollars. 27 million had annual income between 25K dollars and 49K dollars. Finally, 29 million had the yearly income of atleast 100K dollars or above.
In 2008, 29 million people were recorded to have annual income of less than 25K dollars. 30 million had annual income between 25K dollars and 49K dollars. lastly, 28 million had the yearly income of atleast 100K dollars or above.In 2015, 28 million people were recorded to have annual income of less than 25K dollars whereas 29 million had annual income between 25K dollars and 49K dollars.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The student attempts to address the prompt by reporting figures from the chart, but there are significant issues with data accuracy and temporal organization. For example, the text states 'In 2008, 29 million people...', but the chart features data for 2007, 2011, and 2015—there is no 2008 data. Additionally, the response lacks a clear, overarching summary or overview of the main trends across the three years. While some individual income brackets are mentioned, the overall selection and reporting of main features and comparisons are disjointed and contain factual inaccuracies regarding the chart's contents, leading to a partial and flawed task response.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The response is organized into paragraphs, but the logical progression and cohesive flow are weak. The transition between sentences and paragraphs feels abrupt, particularly in the final sections where data points for different years are listed in a somewhat repetitive and confusing manner. Cohesive devices are minimal or misused, and the referencing between ideas lacks clarity. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal structure of the paragraphs does not support a coherent development of ideas.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is adequate for basic communication but is largely repetitive and lacks precision. Phrases like 'The count of employees' and 'count of workers' are unnatural when describing households categorized by income. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary (e.g., 'noticeable change', 'peaked'), but overall, the lexical range is limited, and some terms are used inaccurately in context, restricting the score to a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, though complex structures frequently contain errors or awkward phrasing, such as 'which is evident from the count of 34 million people residing in this category' (households do not 'reside' in an income category). There are missing articles (e.g., 'Moreover, count of workers...') and preposition errors. However, basic sentences are generally understandable, meaning communication is rarely completely impeded despite the frequent grammatical slips.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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