Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-29

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 number of households in the US by their annual income in 2007, 2011 and 2015 are depicted by the given bar chart.

Overall, the prima facie glance makes it quite evident that the number of households with annual income between $50,000 and $74,999 remained identical at around 20 million in all the given years. Households with less than $25,000 annual income fluctuated within the range of 25 and 30 million in all years. Households with $75,000 and $99,999 annual income were either 15 million or lower than that in the given chart. Families with income $100,000 or more were highest in all years bar 2011 where the households with income of $2500-$49,999 were the highest.

Scrutinising deeper into the obtainable information, households with annual pay of 100 thousand dollars or more in 2007 were more than double the households with annual pay between $75,000 and $99,999 in the same year. Number of households with income $100,000 or more were around 33 million in 2015 which was highest in all years which can be considered as a reflection of economic growth in the US.

Digging deeper into the chart, number of households with income ranging between $25,000 and $49,999 were precisely 27 million in 2007 which showed a slight rise to 30 million in 2011 before declining to around 28 million in 2015.

Hereby, I conclude my report.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response covers all parts of the prompt well, selecting and reporting the main features of the chart with appropriate comparisons. You successfully identify the key trends, such as the stability of the $50,000–$74,999 income bracket and the dominance of the highest income category in most years. However, there are minor inaccuracies in the data reporting, such as stating that households with $100,000 or more were the highest in all years bar 2011 when $25,000–$49,999 actually reached a similar peak, and a slight misreading of the $2500–$49,999 range notation in your second paragraph. Nevertheless, an appropriate overview is provided and main comparisons are made effectively, aligning well with the Band 7 descriptor.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The essay is clearly organised into logical paragraphs, starting with an introductory paraphrase, followed by an overview, and then detailed supporting paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well to guide the reader through the data, such as 'Overall', 'Scrutinising deeper', and 'Digging deeper'. However, the transitions between paragraphs can feel a bit repetitive in style (e.g., 'Scrutinising deeper' followed closely by 'Digging deeper'), which slightly affects the natural flow and flexibility of cohesion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different categories of information.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate and generally appropriate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'depicted', 'fluctuated', 'identical', and 'declining'. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary and phraseology, such as 'prima facie glance' and 'reflection of economic growth', though some lexical choices are slightly awkward or overly wordy for a standard Academic Task 1 report. Additionally, there is a minor typo in the second paragraph ('$2500-$49,999' instead of '$25,000'). Overall, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the meaning clearly, but occasional inaccuracies keep it at a Band 6.5 level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including relative clauses and participial phrases (e.g., 'which showed a slight rise...', 'which can be considered as...'). Grammar and punctuation are generally well controlled, and the majority of sentences are clear and comprehensible. There are minor grammatical slip-ups, such as the subject-verb agreement error in the opening sentence ('The number of households... are depicted' instead of 'is depicted'), but these errors do not impede communication. Complex structures are attempted with a reasonable degree of accuracy.

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

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