Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-18

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 6.5)

The bar chart provides information about the yearly income of the residents of United States in five different categories and in three differrent years such as 2007, 2011, and 2015.

Overall, the number of households who earns more than one lakh are increased in the year 2015 over the period, while other income groups showed relatively small changes. Households who earn between $75000-$99999 represented has small group, whereas highest income category became largest by 2015.

In the year 2007, approximately 25 million residents earned less than $25000 while people who earned between $25000 and $49999 are 27 million. Aproximately 21 million and 14 million people generated there income with $50000-$74999 and $[redacted phone]9. Meanwhile, the number of households with income of $[redacted phone] or more are around 29 million

In 2011, the number of households who earned between $25000-$49999 reached 29 million and considered it has largest category in the year 2011. While the number of people who earned less than $25000 increased with 3 million and reached second top most catergory. Furthermore, in others category people with income of $[redacted phone]9 increased with approximately 0.5 million and then both $75000-$99999 and $[redacted phone] or more are declined to 13 million and 27 million respectively.

By 2015, households earning $100,000 or more had risen sharply to approximately 33 million, the highest figure shown on the chart. The number of households earning less than $25,000 remained stable at around 28 million, while the $25,000–$49,999 group decreased slightly to approximately 29 million. The remaining two categories showed little overall change.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You provide a clear overview, identifying the sharp rise in the $100,000-or-more group by 2015 and the comparatively small changes in most other bands. The response also selects relevant figures across all three years, and most are consistent with the chart. However, there are a few inaccuracies: the $50,000–$74,999 group stayed at about 21 million in 2011, rather than increasing by 0.5 million, and the $75,000–$99,999 group was about 14 million, not 13 million. The overview’s claim that the highest-income group increased “over the period” is slightly broad, since it fell between 2007 and 2011 before rising strongly. Overall, the main features are addressed and supported, though greater precision would strengthen the report.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response is organised in a clear sequence: an introduction and overview are followed by paragraphs for 2007, 2011 and 2015. This makes the time-based comparisons easy to follow, and transitions such as “Overall,” “Meanwhile,” “Furthermore” and “By 2015” help signal relationships between points. The main limitation is that some linking is awkward or incomplete, particularly “While the number of people…” at the start of a sentence, which leaves the relationship to the preceding point less smooth. The 2011 paragraph also combines several categories in a dense sequence. Grouping figures by trend—for example, the two lower-income bands together and the higher bands together—would make comparisons more cohesive while retaining the clear overall progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “approximately,” “increased,” “declined,” “remained stable” and “risen sharply,” so the main trends are generally understandable. However, word choice and collocation are often imprecise or repetitive. “Residents” and “people” are used where the chart measures households, and “generated there income” is not a natural way to describe income bands. Phrases such as “second top most catergory” and “considered it has largest category” also reduce clarity, while spelling errors such as “differrent,” “Aproximately” and “catergory” are noticeable. Aim for accurate, consistent terms such as “households,” “accounted for” and “the second-largest group,” and check spelling before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

There are attempts at complex sentences and varied structures, including “while other income groups showed relatively small changes” and “By 2015, households earning… had risen sharply.” However, grammatical control is inconsistent, and errors occur in both simple and more complex sentences. For example, “households who earns” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “the number of households… are around 29 million” uses an incorrect verb form. The construction “While the number of people… increased…” is a fragment when used as a standalone sentence, and “the number… increased with 3 million” uses an incorrect grammatical pattern. Review agreement, tense consistency, and complete sentence structure; these corrections would make the comparisons more fluent and precise.

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