Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-25
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 illustrates the number of households in the United States as per the monthly income in three years (2007,2011 and 2015). The figure are given in millions.
Overall, most of the households in 2007 and 2015 had an annual income of $100,000 or more where as in 2011 maximum numbber of household earned between 25,000 to 49,999 dollar. Furthermore, in all three years the people earned from $75,000 to 99,999 the lowest.
In 2007, 25 millions household earned less then $25000 while about 27 millions HHs had an income between $25000 to 49999. Moreover, about 14 millions had annual income of $[redacted phone]9 and approximately 29 millions had more than $[redacted phone] monthly earning. In addition, talking about the number of households having monthly income from $50,000 to $74,999 remained same in all three years.
Nevertheless, the number of HHs with less than $25000 income annually increased by about 4 millions then dropped by 1 millions by 2015. Likewise, for HHs with salary revenue $25000-49,999 rose then felt to about 29 millions. In contrast, 15 millons households earned between $75,000 and 99,999 in 2015 and about 33 millions had annual income of $[redacted phone] or more by 2015 with sligh declination in 2011.
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 student attempts to address all parts of the task by identifying the main features and making some comparisons across the years. However, there are significant factual inaccuracies regarding the units of measurement and data interpretation. For instance, the student mistakenly refers to 'monthly income' multiple times instead of 'annual income', and describes the categories incorrectly in places (e.g., stating that about 29 millions had more than $100,000 monthly earning). An overview is provided, but it contains contradictions and confusions about which income bracket was the highest in 2007 and 2015. While the general trends for some brackets are mentioned, the lack of precision in reading the chart and confusing annual figures with monthly earnings prevent the response from achieving a higher band.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The response is divided into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs, showing a basic attempt at paragraphing. However, the logical progression is frequently hindered by confusing referencing and abrupt transitions. Cohesive devices are used, but often inaccurately or mechanically (e.g., 'where as', 'in addition, talking about the number', 'Nevertheless'). The overview is placed after the introduction, which is appropriate, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs suffers from repetitive phrasing and unclear links between ideas, making the overall arrangement somewhat disjointed.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The lexical range is limited and frequently repetitive. The student uses basic vocabulary such as 'earned', 'number', and 'households'. There are also noticeable lexical inaccuracies, most notably confusing 'annual income' with 'monthly income', and using incorrect terms such as 'sligh declination'. Spelling errors like 'numbber' and 'millons' occur. Although some attempts are made to use less common vocabulary or paraphrasing, the persistent errors in word choice and collocation cause some difficulty for the reader and restrict the lexical score to this level.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('the people earned... the lowest'), missing prepositions, and incorrect verb forms ('rose then felt' instead of 'fell'). Punctuation errors are also present, such as missing spaces after commas (e.g., '2007,2011'). While some sentences are clear, the high frequency of grammatical slips means that error-free sentences are in the minority.
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