Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-04

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 6.5)

The bar graph illustrates the total number of households by their yearly salary in 2007, 2011 and 2015 in the US.

Overall, the highest number of US households earning were $100,000 or more in 2007 and 2015, while households in the $75,000-$99,999 category were consistently the least numerous. The figures for the middle-income groups remained relatively stable throughout the period.

Moving into more detail, in 2007, 25 million households earned less than $25,000 annually, whereas the figure for those who earned $25,000-$49,999, stood at 27 million. Moreover, about 20 million households were in the $50,000-$74,999, compared to almost 15 million earnings $75,000-$99,999. Meanwhile, 29 million households salary accounted for $100,000 or more. In 2011, the earning of households less than $25,000 rose to about 28 million, while the $25,000-$49,999 group increased slightly to around 29 million. In addition, the $50,000-$74,999 group households remained same and $75,000-$99,999 salary group faced very little change. In contrast, the highest income group experienced fell marginally.

Furthermore, in 2015, the highest income group increased dramatically to around 33 million, while households of earning with less than $25,000 and $25,000-$49,999 declined minimally to 26 and 27 million, respectively. Additionally, the $50,000-$74,999 and $75,000-$99,999 groups remained comparatively low, at about 19 and 13 million.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by providing an overview and reporting the main features of the US household income chart for the three given years. The overall trend and key extremes, such as the highest and lowest income categories, are correctly identified, and relevant comparisons are made. However, some aspects of the task are developed more fully than others; for example, the detailed body paragraphs contain a few slight inaccuracies or approximations in figures (such as stating the 2015 highest income group was around 33 million when the chart records it closer to 33.5), and certain trends could be integrated more smoothly to reach the highest level of development and fully supported extension.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response demonstrates a clear logical organisation and progression throughout, with a recognisable introduction, a concise overview, and separate body paragraphs for detailed comparisons. Cohesive devices are used adequately and generally appropriately, such as 'Moving into more detail', 'meanwhile', and 'In contrast', which help guide the reader through the data. Paragraphing is managed sufficiently, and referencing within the text is mostly clear, contributing to a coherent overall arrangement that meets the requirements for this band while showing elements of higher-level organisation.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

An adequate range of vocabulary is used for the task, allowing the writer to describe trends and figures with reasonable clarity. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary items, such as 'consistently', 'dramatically', and 'marginally', though some lexical choices and collocations show slight awkwardness, such as 'households earning were $100,000' and 'households salary accounted for'. Spelling and word-choice errors are present, for instance 'experienced fell marginally' instead of 'experienced a fall', but these do not impede communication, placing the response securely in this band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an ability to structure comparative statements using clauses like 'whereas' and 'while'. There are several errors in grammar and phrasing throughout the text, including subject-verb inconsistencies and awkward prepositional uses, such as 'households of earning with less than' and 'the earning of households less than'. However, these errors in grammar and punctuation rarely impede communication, and the frequent correct structures indicate a solid foundation of control alongside some persistent inaccuracies.

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