Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The chart depicts the amount of families in America by their yearly income in the years of 2007, 20011 and 2015.

Overall, the amount of families had an anual income of amount less than $25000, from $25000 to $49999 and between $50000 and $74999 were steadily fluctuated over all three years, while income of amount from $75000 to $99999 and $[redacted phone] or more were approximately levelled off over this period. The hightest income households had $[redacted phone] or more among others over the years.

Firstly, the number of households that had an annual income of less than $25000, $25000-$49999 and $[redacted phone] or more fluctuated gradually over the years, who were 25, arond 27 and just below 30 millions in number, respectively by the year 2007.

Moreover, the number of domestic units that had an annual income of $50000-$7499 and $75000-$99999 were alomost remain stable over these periods, who were over 20 and near 15 millions in number, repectively over all these 3 years of 2007, 2011 and 2015.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the chart’s subject and provide an overview, noting that the $50,000–$74,999 and $75,000–$99,999 groups changed little and that the highest-income group was largest overall. However, the overview misstates the trends: the lower-income groups did not fluctuate steadily, and the $100,000-or-more group rose markedly by 2015 rather than remaining level. Some figures are reported for 2007, but the response gives little comparison across all three years. For example, the $100,000+ category increased from about 29.5 million to 33.5 million, while the $50,000–$74,999 group stayed near 21 million. More accurate trend descriptions and selected comparisons would make the key features clearer and better supported.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two detail paragraphs. Sequencing words such as “Overall,” “Firstly,” and “Moreover” help signal the stages of the report. However, the progression is weakened because the overview’s claims do not align with the details, and the final paragraph groups two categories without clearly comparing their values across years. The repeated “who” clauses also make references unclear, as in “who were 25, around 27 and just below 30 millions.” Use direct comparisons and explicit year references, and organise the details into clearer groups—for example, categories that rose or fell versus those that remained stable. This would make the cohesion less mechanical and the information easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “annual income,” “households,” “fluctuated,” and “stable,” and the income bands are generally identifiable. However, several word choices and spelling errors reduce precision: “amount of families” is less suitable than “number of households,” “domestic units” sounds unnatural in this context, and “steadily fluctuated” is contradictory. There are also noticeable spelling errors such as “anual,” “hightest,” and “alomost.” Some income labels are written inconsistently, including “$75000-$7499,” which may confuse the reader. Aim for accurate, natural collocations and consistent formatting of the income ranges; this will strengthen the report’s clarity and control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “families … were steadily fluctuated” and a sentence beginning “Moreover.” However, some sentence structures are faulty and make relationships between ideas unclear. For example, “were steadily fluctuated” uses an incorrect passive form, while “the number … were” has subject–verb disagreement; “who were” is also an unsuitable reference for the figures. The opening phrase “in the years of 2007, 20011 and 2015” contains an incorrect year and awkward grammatical framing. Use straightforward patterns such as “The number of households … fluctuated” or “There were approximately … households,” then check agreement, verb forms, and sentence boundaries. More accurate control of these structures would improve readability.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.