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 graph provides data on American's annual income in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
Overall, There are millions of households earning more than 100,000 dollars in 2015 this income was at its peak and in 2007 as well. family earning below that was less then 25000 dollars in year 2007.
To begin with, 2007 slight less than 15 million families were earning between 75,000 to 99,999 dollars and families earning beyond 100,000 was approximately 30 millions. family earning 50,000 to 74,999 is bit exeeding upto 20 million. 25 million families in US had a income less than 20,000 and following that having 25,000 to 50,000 income exeeds upto 25,000 dollars.
Discussing about the later two years 2011 and 2015, number of families earning less than 25,000 rose in the year 2011 appoximately 28 millions and slight decline experienced in 2015 . families earning between 25,000 to 49,000 dollars was 30 million in 2011 and numbers decreased in 2015. Moreover, people earning between 50,000 to 74,999 dollars was 21 millions apperantly. 75,000 to 99,999 dollars never reched upto 15 millions and was accounted for 15 millions households in 2015
Househols with annual income of 100,00 dollars was 27 million approximately and went to all time high wich may be near 33 million.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The response makes an attempt to address the prompt by reporting some data from the bar graph, such as the number of households earning over 100,000 dollars in 2015 and mentions some figures for other brackets. However, the task is only partially addressed because the overview is weak, confused, and fragmented across the sentences. Furthermore, several data points are inaccurately reported or confused with incorrect units, such as mentioning 25 million families earning less than 20,000 dollars, which does not accurately reflect the chart's categories or values. Ideas are limited and under-developed, and there is a lack of clear comparison or a cohesive summary of the main trends across the three years.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
There is some organisation in the response, with paragraph breaks attempted, but there is no clear overall progression from the introduction through the body paragraphs to a conclusion. The overview is awkwardly placed right at the beginning and lacks clarity. Cohesive devices are either missing, inadequate, or inaccurate, and referencing is often unclear (e.g., abrupt jumps between years and income categories). Paragraphing is also misused, as sentences are fractured and do not group related ideas together logically, making the text difficult to follow smoothly.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The student attempts some less common vocabulary related to data reporting, but this is accompanied by noticeable errors in word choice, form, and collocation, such as 'bit exeeding upto', 'apperantly', and 'wich may be near'. Spelling errors like 'reched' and 'Househols' also occur. These lexical inaccuracies and awkward expressions cause some difficulty for the reader in fully grasping the intended data points.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writer uses a limited range of sentence structures, and attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty. There are frequent errors in grammar, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions inside grammatical patterns throughout the text, such as 'There are millions... in 2015 this income was', 'family earning below that was less then', and 'number of families... rose... and slight decline experienced'. Punctuation is also erratic. These frequent errors cause strain and difficulty for the reader.
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