Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-28

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 6.0)

The provided graph illustrates the yearly income of households from years 2007,2011 and 2015 in the United States.

Overall, households with $100,000 or more income can be seen dominating throughout the time period, whereas the housholds with $75,000-$99,999 income had the lowest figure. The number of households are measured in millions.

The number of households with $100,000 or more annual income had the biggest portions each year. It was at 29 million households in 2007 and had a huge upsurge reaching almost 33 million households in 2015, while the amount slightly decreased to about 27 million households in 2011. Both less than $25,000 and $25,000-$49,999 were identical with them being marginally different in number of households, while both were almost constant in 2011 and 2015 with 28 million and 29 million households respectively, they were at 25 million and 32 million households in 2007 at the start of the time period.

The only one which kept truly constant throughout the time were households with $50,000-$74,999 income that were about 21 millions households, whereas similarly households with $75,000-$99,999 were stable both in 2007 and 2015 with almost 15 million households. However, it is moderately declined in 2011 to approximately 14.5 households.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student covers all key features of the chart and attempts to make relevant comparisons, successfully identifying the overall trends. However, there are some inaccuracies in reporting the data. For instance, the student states that the $100,000 or more bracket had the biggest portions each year and reached 'almost 33 million households in 2015', which is reasonably close to the chart data (33.5), but the text mentions it was at 29 million in 2007 (actually 29.5) and drops to 'about 27 million' in 2011 (actually 27.5). Furthermore, the claim that households earning $75,000-$99,999 'had the lowest figure' is inaccurate, as this group was actually higher than the $50,000-$74,999 group in certain years, and other categories showed lower figures at various points. These minor data inaccuracies and slight misinterpretations of the extremes place this response at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is arranged logically with an introduction, an overview paragraph, and two body paragraphs detailing specific income brackets. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'whereas', 'while', and 'However' are used to connect ideas, though some referencing and transitions feel slightly mechanical or awkward (e.g., 'Both less than $25,000 and $25,000-$49,999 were identical with them being marginally different...'). Paragraphing is appropriately utilised to separate distinct aspects of the visual data. The overall progression is clear, though the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be smoother. This meets the criteria for Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common terms such as 'upsurge', 'dominating', 'identical', and 'constant'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation. For example, writing 'housholds' (spelling error) and stating that groups 'were identical with them being marginally different' is contradictory and unnatural. Additionally, the phrase 'it is moderately declined' contains a grammatical error combined with lexical awkwardness ('moderately decreased' or 'saw a moderate decline' would be more appropriate). These errors do not impede communication, placing the response firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and subordinate structures ('The only one which kept truly constant throughout the time were households...'). However, there is a lack of strict grammatical control in places. Errors include subject-verb agreement issues ('households... were... that were about 21 millions households', 'to approximately 14.5 households' missing the noun), tense inconsistency ('it is moderately declined'), and punctuation issues around dates ('2007,2011'). Despite these recurring errors, the meaning remains clear and communication is not impeded, which aligns with the Band 6.0 descriptors.

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