Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-17

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 bar chart compares the data of number of US residents on the basis of their annual income in several years 2007, 2011, and 2015.

Overall, the data is grouped within four subgroups distributer by proportion of wages. The number of proportion recieving 100,000 dollars or above fundamentaly increased over years. In contrast, the lowest number of people got a salary of 75,000 to 99,000 dollars.

In 2007, 30 million of individuals earned 100,000 dollars and above annually, which is double the number of workers who earned less than 25,000 dollars. However, the circumstances changed by 2011, where there occured a fall in annual salaries of 100,000 dollars or more and the number of people earning increased to 28 million. The most striking shift occurred in 2015, where those with maximum earnings hit 34% while the annual earners of 25,000 dollars slightly fell in number.

Furthermore, the number of people earning 25,000 to 49,999 dollars reached barely 28 million of total population followed by those earning from 50,000 to 99,000, the number remained consistent over years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the chart’s subject and include an overview, noting that the $100,000-or-more group rose and that the $75,000–$99,999 group was the smallest. However, the overview is partly inaccurate: the chart has five income bands, not “four subgroups,” and the smallest category is not consistently the same in every year. Several figures or descriptions are also confused. In 2007, the highest-income group was about 29.5 million, not double the under-$25,000 group; in 2011, the highest-income figure fell to about 27.5 million, while the $25,000–$49,999 group rose to about 29.5 million. The 2015 figure is 33.5 million households, not 34%. More accurate comparisons and coverage of the main trends are needed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing selected years and income groups. Connectors such as “Overall,” “In contrast,” and “Furthermore” help signal relationships. However, the progression is not consistently clear because several comparisons are compressed or difficult to follow. For example, “the circumstances changed by 2011” does not specify which category is being discussed, and the sentence about the 2015 “maximum earnings” shifts abruptly to the $25,000 group. The final sentence combines two income ranges and a claim of consistency without clearly identifying which figures remained stable. Organise the details by category or by year, and use clearer references so readers can follow each comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant chart vocabulary, including “increased,” “fall,” “remained consistent,” and “reached,” and you attempt more formal phrasing. However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or awkward, which sometimes obscures the data. “Number of US residents” and “workers” do not match the chart, which counts households; “proportion of wages” is also not an appropriate description of income bands. Phrases such as “maximum earnings hit 34%” confuse a household count with a percentage, while “annual earners” is unclear. Spelling errors such as “fundamentaly,” “recieving,” and “occurred” also affect control. Use precise terms such as “households,” “income category,” and “million,” and check spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “which” and “where,” and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, errors recur in sentence construction and grammatical forms. For example, “compares the data of number” is an awkward noun structure, and “the number of proportion recieving” lacks a clear grammatical subject. In “the number of people earning increased to 28 million,” the sentence does not clearly state which group is meant. The phrase “those earning from 50,000 to 99,000, the number remained consistent” joins two clauses incorrectly. Work on articles and noun phrases, clear subject–verb relationships, and punctuation between independent clauses. These corrections would make your comparisons easier to understand.

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