Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-27

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)

This bar chart gives the information of US families with their annual income in 2007,20011 and 2015

Overall, the families with more than 100,000 income was higher. The families with income 25,000-49,999 and 50,000-74,999 didnot had the number of change.

In 2007, the people with less than 25,000 dollars income was 25 millions and the quietly high 25 million people had yearly income with 25,000-49,999 dollars.Although approximately 25 and 15 million families had 50,000-74,999 dollars and 75000-99,999 dollars yearly income. whereas, the nearly 30 million familes had more than 100,000 dollars income.

The people whose income was less than 25000 dollars was nearly 30 million in 2011 and it quietly decreased in 2015. The 30 million households had 25,000-49,999 dollars sincome and it was also decreased in 2015. The households had annual income [redacted phone]9 dollars approximately 20 million and remained same in 2015. Less than 15 million households had income of 75000-99,999 in 2017 and decline

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student attempts to address the prompt by summarising the main features of the bar chart. However, there are notable issues with data accuracy and clarity. For example, the writer misstates that "the families with income 25,000-49,999 and 50,000-74,999 didnot had the number of change," which contradicts the visual data showing fluctuations in the $25,000-$49,999 bracket. Furthermore, some figures are misquoted or vague, such as referring to a year as "20011". While an overview is attempted, it lacks sufficient development and contains factual inaccuracies regarding the trends, placing the response securely at Band 5.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay displays some basic organisation with an introductory sentence and body paragraphs, but overall progression is hindered by poor paragraph structuring and abrupt transitions. Cohesive devices are used awkwardly or inaccurately, such as "Although approximately 25 and 15 million families... whereas, the nearly 30 million familes...", which disrupts the logical flow. Referencing is also confusing at times, making it difficult for the reader to follow the comparisons smoothly. Paragraphing is present, but the internal logical links between sentences require improvement.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, frequently revolving around numbers and income brackets. There are multiple spelling and word-choice errors, such as "didnot had the number of change" instead of "did not experience significant change", and "sincome" instead of "income". While the range of vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey simple numerical data, the noticeable errors and lack of sophisticated phrasing restrict the score to Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The text contains a very limited range of grammatical structures, and attempts at more complex sentences often result in severe grammatical errors. Examples include "the families with more than 100,000 income was higher" (subject-verb agreement error), "didnot had the number of change" (double verb tense/form error), and missing articles or prepositions throughout. Frequent grammatical errors cause noticeable difficulty for the reader and impede clear communication.

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