Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-05

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 given bar chart illustrates the propotion of yearly income during; 2007, 2011 and 2015 to particular number of households in five different categories in the US.

Overall, houses with the annual income $100,000 or more was the highest, with the assumption of 2007 where $25,00-$49,999 takes the place.Conversely, households between $75,00-$99,999 shows the lowest number during all three years.

In the year 2007, households with $100,000 or more was just below 30 millions showing a considerable data, which was then followed by $25,000-$49,999 at approximately 27 millions of households.Others were below 25 million of households.Futhermore, number of househoolds with $25,000-$49,999 was significant in 2011,next in line were less than $25,000 and $100,000 or more with approximately 28 millions and 26 millions of households respectively.

On the other hand, people with $50,00-$74,999 was nearly same in 2007,2011 and 2015 with nearly 22 millions of households. Employees with annual income $75,00-$99,999 was 15 million in 2015 at bottom , while employees with &100,000 or more were at highest wi

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response5.5
Coherence and Cohesion5.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task only partially because the data reporting contains several inaccuracies and the overview is somewhat unclear. While you attempted to cover the categories and years in the bar chart, your reporting of figures is frequently imprecise, such as stating that households with $100,000 or more were 'just below 30 millions' in 2007 when the chart indicates 29.5 millions, or describing categories vaguely. Additionally, your overview lacks clarity and contains confusing phrasing like 'with the assumption of 2007 where $25,00-$49,999 takes the place.' To move to a higher band, you need to ensure that your overview clearly highlights the main overall trends without getting bogged down in minor details, and you must accurately report key figures directly from the visual data.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some organization evident in your essay, such as dividing the response into an introduction, an overview paragraph, and body paragraphs, but there is no clear overall progression. Paragraphing is attempted, but ideas within and between paragraphs do not flow logically, leading to a disjointed reading experience. Cohesive devices are used rather mechanically and sometimes inaccurately, as seen in transitions like 'Conversely' and 'On the other hand,' which do not always logically introduce the contrasting data you intend to present. Furthermore, repetitive sentence openings and unclear referencing (such as 'Others were below 25 million') disrupt the flow. To improve, you should focus on structuring your body paragraphs around clear logical themes, such as grouping trends by income brackets or time periods, and use cohesive ties more naturally.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

Your vocabulary is limited but minimally adequate for describing a chart, using terms like 'bar chart,' 'households,' 'income,' and 'category.' However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices that cause some difficulty for the reader, including spelling mistakes like 'propotion' instead of proportion, missing zeros in income ranges (e.g., '$25,00-$49,999'), and unusual phrasing like 'Employees with annual income' when referring to households. Your range of vocabulary lacks flexibility, and you rely heavily on repetitive repetition of the prompt's terms. To achieve a higher band, you need to expand your range of vocabulary by using precise synonyms, correct numerical formatting, and more sophisticated collocations related to data trends.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

Your writing displays a very limited range of sentence structures, and your attempts at more complex sentences are frequently faulty. There are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'houses with the annual income $100,000 or more was' and 'households between $75,00-$99,999 shows'), missing prepositions, and incorrect punctuation. In addition, the essay abruptly cuts off at the end ('were at highest wi'), which reflects poor control over sentence completion. To raise your grammar score, you need to work on basic sentence construction, ensure that your subjects and verbs agree correctly, and practice forming complex structures accurately without making errors that hinder comprehension.

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

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