Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-11

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 provided bar graph illustrates the earning of every US family annually in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Overall, almost every income category fluctuated over the period, meanwhile the earning between $50000-$74000 remained stable. The families who earned $75000-$99999 stayed at lower levels.

Commencing from the salary holders who got $25,000 were 25% in 200 it climbed at just below 30% in 2011 and in 2015 it dropped at 28%. Subsequently, $25,000-$49,999 household income were above 25% in 2007, in 2011 it rose at 30% and in 2011 it a minor decline is noted. Furthermore, $50.000-$74,000 group remained same till end.

Moreover, the households who earned $75,000-$99,999 were less than15% in 2007, in 2011 they platued at 14% and in 2011 they reached at 15%. Eventually the last group who earned more than

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify several relevant categories and note that the $50,000–$74,999 group was stable, while the $75,000–$99,999 group had the lowest figures. However, the overview is incomplete, and key comparisons are missing: the $100,000-or-more category was the largest in 2007 and rose to a clear peak in 2015, but your response ends before reporting its figures or trend. Some data are also misreported or unclear: the chart gives numbers of households in millions, not percentages, and the first category is less than $25,000, not a salary of exactly $25,000. The response is 132 words, below the required 150. Cover all five groups, use the correct units, and finish with a complete overview and comparison.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the response with an introduction, an overview and successive descriptions of income groups. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Furthermore” and “Moreover” help signal movement between points. However, the progression is difficult to follow because the categories are not consistently described and several sentences repeat the same pattern. The final sentence is unfinished (“the last group who earned more than”), leaving the report without a conclusion to its data description. There are also confusing time references, including “in 2011” where the context appears to mean 2015. Use clear paragraphs for the overview and grouped comparisons, and check that each sentence completes one point before moving on.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-related vocabulary, including “income category,” “remained stable,” “fluctuated” and “minor decline,” showing an attempt to describe trends rather than simply list figures. However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for this chart: “earning of every US family” is not a precise description of household counts, and “salary holders” does not fit the data. Repeated use of “group” and “earned” also limits variety. Spelling and number formatting are inconsistent, as in “platued” and “$50.000.” Choose precise terms such as “households,” “income bracket,” “rose,” “fell” and “stood at,” and keep the income ranges and units consistent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentence forms, for example, “Overall, almost every income category fluctuated over the period, meanwhile…” However, the longer sentences are often poorly controlled, and punctuation does not reliably separate the ideas. In “the earning between $50000-$74000 remained stable,” the singular subject and article pattern are problematic; “the households … were less than15%” also does not form a clear grammatical comparison. Several clauses lack a clear subject or verb, and the final sentence is incomplete. These errors sometimes make the intended meaning difficult to follow. Practise writing complete sentences with one clear comparison at a time, and check agreement, clause boundaries and punctuation before submitting.

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