Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-12

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 4.5)

The bar chart compares the number of households n the United States by their annual income in three different years (2007,2011, and 2015).

Overall, the incomes fluctuated between the given years. The highest income recorded in the majority of households . The income was recorded in millions.

In 2007, the highest income recorded in nearly 30 households, about 100 million dollars, whereas the lowest was 14 families who were found to have 7.5 million dollars salary. However, the figures for 2.5 million dollars were recorded for approximately 27 households, while 25 families had less than 2.5 million income.

In 2011, the figures for over 100 million income witnessed a decline and only 27 families recorded to have this income. However, the number of households who had 2.5 million dollar income rose to 30 households, whereas the figure for 7.5 million dollar decreased to 13 houses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies the chart’s subject and gives some relevant comparisons, including the rise in the $25,000–$49,999 group by 2011 and the fall in the highest-income group. However, the overview is unclear and inaccurate: “The highest income recorded in the majority of households” does not describe a clear overall pattern, and the response omits 2015 entirely. Several figures and income bands are also misreported: the chart shows income categories in thousands of dollars, not “2.5 million” or “100 million dollars,” and the $75,000–$99,999 group is about 14–15 million households, not 7.5 million. The response is five words below the required minimum. To improve, give a clear overview and accurately compare the main categories across all three years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic paragraph structure: an introduction, an attempted overview, and separate paragraphs for 2007 and 2011. This gives the reader some sense of organisation, and linking words such as “whereas” and “However” show an effort to connect comparisons. However, there is no paragraph covering 2015, so the information does not progress through the full period. The overview is difficult to follow, and repeated use of “the figures” and “the number of households” makes the account feel list-like rather than clearly organised around trends. Grouping the income bands by whether they rose, fell or stayed stable, and using clearer references to each band, would create a more coherent progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some task-relevant vocabulary, including “bar chart,” “households,” “annual income,” “decline” and “rose,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and several word choices make the data difficult to interpret. “The highest income recorded” confuses an income category with the number of households in that category, while “families” and “houses” are used where “households” is needed. The repeated phrase “2.5 million dollar income” also misrepresents the chart’s $25,000–$49,999 band. Use precise labels such as “the $100,000-or-more income group” and “approximately 29 million households,” and vary reporting verbs with accurate terms such as “stood at,” “increased” and “remained stable.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There are attempts at complex sentences, particularly comparisons joined with “whereas” and “However,” and some basic sentence patterns are understandable. Nevertheless, grammatical errors are frequent enough to make several statements unclear. The opening contains “households n the United States,” and the overview has an incomplete construction in “The highest income recorded in the majority of households.” In “only 27 families recorded to have this income,” the verb pattern is incorrect; write “only 27 million households were in this income group.” Punctuation and spacing are also inconsistent, as in “2007,2011.” Practise complete subject–verb sentences and accurate passive or reporting structures, while checking articles, verb forms and punctuation.

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