Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-15

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)

This chart is depicting the information about the number of households in the US by their annual income in 2007, 2011 and 2015. In 2007 about 30 million of housholds had their annual income of 1 lac dollars or more while the rest of 15 millions, of households had their annual income of 75 thousand dollars to 99.9 thousand dollars. While 27 millions, of households had their annual income of 25 to 49.9 thousand dollars in 2007. In 2011, about 30 millions, of households were having 25 to 49.9 thousand dollars of annual income. While 29 million of households had less than 25 thousand dollars of annual income in 2011. In 2015, about 33 million of househlds were having 1 lacor more thousands of dollars while remaining had minor fluctuations. The major fluctuation was in between the people of range of 1 lac or more thousand of dollars or people earning 25 to 49.9 thousand of dolars of their annual income during these three years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify the chart’s subject and report some relevant figures, including the high-income group’s rise to about 33 million in 2015 and the $25,000–$49,999 group’s roughly 27 million in 2007. However, the response addresses the task only minimally: it has no clear overview of the main patterns, and several figures or comparisons are inaccurate. For example, the 2011 figure for households earning under $25,000 is about 28.5 million, not 29 million, while the $50,000–$74,999 group remained near 21 million throughout. The closing claim about the “major fluctuation” is unclear and does not accurately summarise the trends. The response is also one word below the 150-word minimum. Add a concise overview and report the key changes accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response follows a basic chronological order, moving from 2007 to 2011 and then 2015, so the reader can identify which year is being discussed. However, there is no clear paragraph structure or overall progression from an overview to supporting details. Several sentences begin with “While,” leaving them as fragments or loosely connected additions, and repeated year openings make the account feel like a list rather than a comparison. The final sentence introduces a comparison between income groups but does not explain it clearly. Organise the response into an introduction, an overview, and one or two detail paragraphs; use linking phrases to compare trends across years rather than treating each year separately.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant basic terms such as “households,” “annual income,” and “fluctuations,” and the income ranges are generally recognisable. However, vocabulary is limited and some word choices or collocations make the description awkward or unclear. Phrases such as “were having” and “the people of range” are not natural ways to describe chart data, while “1 lacor more thousands of dollars” is difficult to interpret. There are also spelling errors, including “housholds,” “househlds,” and “dolars.” Use standard numerical expressions such as “$100,000 or more” and precise reporting verbs such as “stood at,” “rose to,” or “remained stable.” This would make the data easier to understand and improve the range and accuracy of your vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentence forms, and the reader can usually understand the intended years and income groups. However, the range is limited, and errors recur in sentence construction, agreement, articles, and punctuation. For example, “While 27 millions, of households had…” is an incomplete sentence, and “the rest of 15 millions, of households” has faulty number and article use. The construction “households were having” is also unsuitable for describing a chart, and commas are placed incorrectly in phrases such as “millions, of households.” These problems sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to follow. Practise complete sentences with accurate subject–verb patterns, use “million” without plural marking after a number, and check punctuation around introductory clauses.

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