Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-01

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 5.5)

The bar chart illustrates annual income of households in US for the year 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Overall, the number of households fluctuated through out years for the given income. However, same amount of households had income between 50K $ to $74,999 in all years. The lowest number of household had annual income in between %75k-$99,999.

In 2007, about 25 millions houses had income less than $25k a year. About, 27 millions had annual income between $25k and $49,999. The highest proportion of household had income about $100k or more, and the least about 14 millions houses had income $75k to $99,99.

In 2011, generally the yearly income decreased for all the groups, as more households had salary less than 25K to 49,999 dollars a year. Moreover, households having annual income of $100k and more fall considerably below the first two groups. While, about 13 million houses had annual income of $75-$99,999.

In 2015, again the number of households having high yearly income increased as compared to 2011. Approximately, 33 millions houses fell into the highest income category that is more than 2007 and 2011. However, people in the low category income group of yearly income lesser than 25K and 25K to 449,999 fell slightly to 28millions and 29 millions, respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the main features of the task, providing an overview and selecting data points from the chart for 2007, 2011, and 2015. However, some aspects are under-developed or inaccurately reported. For instance, the claim that yearly income decreased overall for all groups in 2011 overlooks the middle category, which remained completely stable at 21 million. Furthermore, some data points are misreported or vague, such as stating that 'about 25 millions houses had income less than $25k' in 2007 (the exact figure was 25 million, but 'houses' is used instead of households), and minor inaccuracies in the final paragraph regarding numbers and categories. While an overview is attempted, it lacks sufficient extension and precise coverage of all significant trends to achieve a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement and is divided into logical paragraphs, starting with an introduction and overview, followed by individual body paragraphs for each year. Information is generally ordered chronologically. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or faulty. The use of transitional markers like 'Moreover' and 'While' is occasionally awkward or creates fragmented sentence structures, such as starting a sentence with 'While, about 13 million houses had annual income...'. Referencing is mostly clear, but the logical progression between sentences within paragraphs could be smoother and better connected.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, allowing the student to communicate basic trends using terms like 'fluctuated', 'highest proportion', and 'category'. However, there is a limited range of less common lexical items, and there are noticeable errors in word choice, word form, and collocation. For example, using 'houses' instead of 'households', writing '%75k', mixing currency symbols ('50K $'), and awkward phrasing like 'low category income group of yearly income lesser than 25K' demonstrate restricted control over vocabulary. Spelling and word-choice errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the score to a moderate level.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting comparative structures and time clauses. However, there are frequent grammatical errors in sentence structures, articles, and prepositions. Examples include 'through out years' instead of 'throughout the years', 'same amount of households' instead of 'the same number of households', and missing or incorrect articles ('the lowest number of household had annual income'). Furthermore, punctuation and verb tense usage show inconsistency, such as 'fall considerably' instead of 'fell considerably' in a past-tense context. These errors require some effort to decode, though they rarely obscure the overall meaning completely.

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