Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The chart illustrates the households number in the US with their yearly income in 2007, 2011, and 2015.

Overall, this data shows the mininum changes in each year with different annual income. It mainly shows steady changes not really high.

It is clearly seen that arround 25- 30 millions household increases with the income less than $25,000 and $ 25,000- $49,999 in year 2007, 2011 and 2015. At the same, a drastic decrement in number of households with the income $ 50,000 -$ 74,999 and $75,000-$99,999, which remains almost constant in all the years.

Moreover, the highest number of households increased with the income $100,000 or more, approximately 30 millions with minor changes in different years. The trend is still not really changed but in year 2015, there is a huge increment as compares to other.

The chart shows that with changing income, number of households also incresed and decreased in different years. However, there are not too many changes show up in several years respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response attempts to summarize the chart data by mentioning various income brackets and years, such as households with income 'less than $25,000' and '$100,000 or more'. However, the information is presented in a somewhat generalized and imprecise manner. While there is an overview attempted in the second paragraph ('Overall, this data shows the mininum changes in each year'), it lacks clarity and does not effectively highlight the most significant trends or overall patterns from the chart. Some details are vague or slightly inaccurate regarding the exact trajectory of the groups, placing the response at a level where the task is addressed only partially and ideas are underdeveloped.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The writing is divided into distinct paragraphs, which helps provide some structural organization. However, there is a lack of clear overall progression and logical linking between sentences. Cohesive devices are used minimally or somewhat inaccurately, such as the abrupt transitions using 'Moreover' and 'At the same'. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally unclear, making it difficult to follow the relationships between the data points across different years. The overall arrangement feels somewhat disjointed, which restricts the flow of information.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and repetitive, relying heavily on basic terms and phrases taken directly from the prompt, such as 'households', 'annual income', and 'millions'. There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'households number', 'mininum changes', 'drastic decrement', and 'huge increment as compares to other'. These slips and limited control over word forms and collocations mean the lexical range is only minimally adequate for the task and occasionally causes confusion for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple or faulty complex attempts. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including issues with prepositions, articles, and verb tenses/agreements (e.g., 'households increased with the income', 'trend is still not really changed', and 'there are not too many changes show up'). These frequent errors can cause difficulty for the reader and indicate a lack of secure control over grammatical structures at this level.

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