Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-03

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 proportion of households in the us, categories by their yearly income in 2007,2011 and 2015. majority figures given in millions.

Overall, in 2015 1,00,000 or more had majourity house compare to other. However, in past year such as 2011 and 2007, 75000-99,000 had very low Household in all three years.

In 2007, 1,00,000 or more had more houes compare to other categories, at near 30. while [redacted phone]0 had very low House in 2007, at around 14 . Then other three categories had moderate number between 20 and 25.

Meanwhile, In [redacted phone]0 - 49,999 had highest House just below 30 while 75000 - 99000 had very low at around 14. Then remaining categories had good proportion between 20 and 28.

Finally, in [redacted phone]0- [redacted phone] had slightly increased at around 15. While 1,00,000 more category sharply increased just near 35. Then other remaining categoris had a good number between 20 and 28.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response attempts to address all parts of the prompt by looking at the household income data across the three specified years, but the coverage is uneven and some of the data reported contains inaccuracies. For instance, the statement that '75000-99,000 had very low Household in all three years' is an oversimplification, and some specific values are misread or confused, such as the highest category in 2011. While an overview is attempted at the beginning, it lacks clarity and precision. The ideas are somewhat limited and under-developed, meaning the response sits at a level where the task is only partially met due to inaccurate reporting of key features and comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response shows some logical organisation with a clear attempt at paragraphing, separating the introduction, overview, and individual years into distinct blocks. However, there is no clear overall progression guiding the reader smoothly through the data. Cohesive devices are used in a rather mechanical and repetitive way, with frequent reliance on transition words like 'Meanwhile', 'Then', and 'Finally' to link sentences. Referencing is also occasionally unclear, such as the ambiguous use of 'other three categories' and 'remaining categories'. These features point to a coherent overall arrangement that suffers from faulty or mechanical cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and barely adequate for the task. The student makes noticeable errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'proportion' instead of 'number', 'majourity' instead of 'majority', 'houes' instead of 'houses', and 'categoris' instead of 'categories'. Furthermore, numerical formatting is clumsy, such as '1,00,000 or more'. While the writer attempts to use subject-specific terms like 'categories' and 'proportion', the lexical control is weak, and spelling and word-choice errors occur frequently enough to occasionally cause difficulty for the reader.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a very limited range of structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with frequent attempts at complex or comparative patterns that turn out faulty. There are recurrent errors in articles, capitalization, and prepositions, such as 'proportion of households in the us, categories by their yearly income', 'in past year', and missing articles before income brackets. Punctuation and sentence boundaries are also weak, with awkward comma splices and capitalization issues (e.g., 'Meanwhile, In 2011 25000 - 49,999 had highest House'). Frequent errors in grammar are present throughout the text, causing some difficulty for the reader.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.