Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-30

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 4.5)

The bar illustrates the number of households earn annualy in the US economy in 2007, 2011 and 2015, measured in millions.

Overall, people,s earned hundrend or more had highest number over the period, while the number below then fifteen was the lowest throughout the years. Subsequently, people who annuel income nearly twenty remained same.

In detail, individuals those income less than 25,000 $ at 25 million in number, followed by nearly at 30 million in 2011, and around 26 million in 2015. Similarly, people who annual income 100,000 or above began with just nearly at 30 million, the number decreased to 26 million in 2011 and the figure dramatically increased approximately at 33 million.

The number of those, who income 25,000 to 49,000 started with just over 25 milllion, reached to 30 million in 2011, and went down to nearly 27 million in last year. Furthermore, the number of those 50,[redacted phone]0 remained same in three period. Whereas, 7

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.0
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource4.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.0
Overall4.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response attempts to address the prompt by summarising the main features of the chart, but it suffers from significant data inaccuracies and incomplete sentences, particularly towards the end where the text cuts off ('Whereas, 7'). While the overview attempts to highlight some general trends, expressions such as 'people,s earned hundrend or more' are difficult to interpret accurately against the visual data. Key comparisons are missing, and some figures cited (e.g., income levels and years) do not accurately reflect the provided source text. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed, aligning with Band 5.0 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The text is organised into paragraphs, beginning with an introduction and an overview, followed by detail paragraphs. However, the logical progression is frequently disrupted by poor cohesive devices, fragmented sentences, and grammatical opacity. Referencing is often unclear, such as 'Subsequently, people who annuel income nearly twenty remained same', making it difficult to follow the relationships between ideas. Paragraphing is attempted, but abrupt endings and disjointed transitions prevent a clear flow of information, placing this response at Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.0

The lexical range is very limited and heavily impeded by severe word choice and spelling errors (e.g., 'earn annualy', 'hundrend', 'annuel'). Vocabulary is repetitive and basic, often leading to unnatural phrasing such as 'people,s earned hundrend or more had highest number'. The student struggles to accurately render basic terms related to charts and economics. Because the errors cause noticeable strain and difficulty for the reader, the response firmly meets the criteria for Band 4.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

Grammatical control is weak throughout the response. The student relies heavily on simple structures, and attempts at more complex sentences result in severe errors, missing verbs, and incomplete clauses (e.g., 'Whereas, 7'). Punctuation and word forms are frequently misused, as seen in 'individuals those income less than 25,000 $ at 25 million in number'. These frequent errors frequently distort meaning and hinder comprehension, justifying a band score of 4.0.

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

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