Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-02
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 bar graph compares the number of households in America by their annual income in 2007, 2011 and 2015. The households are in millions while the income ranges from less then twenty five thousand dollars to more then a million.
Overall, it is clear that the graph showed the fluctuated data in every year. In 2015 about 33 million households have more then a million annual income, while roughly 13 million households had the least income in 2011.
To begin with, the households which have income more then year are more in 2015 around 30 million and least in 2011 about 23 million households. Similarly, between 75,000 to 999,999 experienced the similar trend of about nearly 15 million households in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
As for 50,000 to 74,999 thousand annual income, the same number of households had that amount, roughly 21 million. Similarly for the 25,000 to 49,000 dollars, about more then 25 million households have that income.
lastly, 25 million households has less then 25 thousand dollars in 2007. While in 2011 and 2015 roughly 33 million households had that annual income.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response makes an attempt to summarise the bar chart, but it only partially addresses the task requirements due to significant inaccuracies in reading and reporting the data. For instance, the text claims that 'about 33 million households have more then a million annual income' in 2015, which completely misinterprets the category '$100,000 or more' as being over a million dollars. Similarly, data points such as the categories for 25,000 to 49,000 dollars are described vaguely as 'more then 25 million households' rather than providing precise figures or reliable comparisons. While an overview is attempted, it remains unclear and focuses on fluctuating data without highlighting the key overarching trends effectively. To improve, you must read the axis labels and numerical categories much more carefully and select only the most prominent features to report accurately.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response shows some organisation by dividing the text into distinct paragraphs, including an introduction and a brief overview. However, there is no clear overall progression throughout the body paragraphs, and ideas jump abruptly between categories. Cohesive devices are used mechanically or inadequately, such as repetitive transitions like 'Similarly' and 'To begin with', which do not always connect the logical relationships between data points properly. Furthermore, referencing is occasionally unclear, making it difficult for the reader to follow the intended comparisons. To achieve a higher band, you need to structure your paragraphs around logical themes or time periods, ensuring a smoother flow of information and more varied, accurate cohesive links.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is limited and barely adequate for the task, with noticeable errors that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. There is heavy repetition of basic structures and terms such as 'households', 'annual income', and 'million'. Furthermore, there are multiple word-choice and spelling inaccuracies throughout the text, such as writing 'then' instead of 'than', and misinterpreting income brackets completely. Attempts to use less common vocabulary are either inaccurate or restricted by limited control over collocation and word form. To improve your lexical score, you should expand your vocabulary related to data trends and ensure you spell and use comparative phrases correctly.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response displays a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with frequent attempts at complex structures that turn out faulty. There are persistent grammatical errors throughout the text, including tense inconsistencies and subject-verb agreement issues, such as writing 'households has' instead of 'households have' and 'graph showed the fluctuated data'. These frequent errors can cause some difficulty for the reader and obscure the precise meaning of your comparisons. To lift your grammar score to the next level, you must focus on eliminating basic agreement errors and practice constructing complex sentences accurately with proper verb tenses and punctuation.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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