Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-19

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 6.0)

The chart illustrates the number of households in the United States by their annual incomne, measured in millions in year 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Overall, Families having income more than $100,000 or more increased significantly over period in the year 2015, in contrast the number of households earning between $75,000 and $99,999 remained lowest in all three years.

In year 2007, the number of households having income less than $25,000 was about 25 millions and the nuber of households having income between $25,000 and $49,999 was recorded around 27 million, while the figure shows that the number of households earning $50,000-$74,999 and $75,000-$99,999 was approximately 22 million adn 14 million respectively,

By year 2011, the number increased in the number of households earning less than $25,000 and earning $25,000-$49,999 which is shown in figure about 29 million adn 30 million respectively. whle the other three groups changed relatively lower than these two. The number of households earning $75,000-$99,999 recorded the lowest in 2011 amomng all three year.

In the year 2015, the number of households earning $100,000 or more rose up a lot like never before and reached over 33 million. The figures for the two lowest income groups were around 28 million and 29 million, respectively. Meanwhile the $50,000–$74,999 and $75,000–$99,999 categories remained relatively stable at approximately 21 million and 15 million.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response covers the chart’s main categories and gives a clear overview: the $100,000-or-more group reaches its peak in 2015, while $75,000–$99,999 is the smallest category throughout. Most reported figures and trends are close to the chart, including the stability of the $50,000–$74,999 group and the rise in the highest-income group. This already shows some selection and comparison of key features. However, the overview’s claim that the highest-income group “increased significantly over period” is imprecise: it fell from about 29.5 million in 2007 to 27.5 million in 2011 before rising sharply. The 2011 changes in the other groups are also described vaguely. Make the overview more accurate and compare the main movements across all three years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement, with an introduction, an overview and separate paragraphs for 2007, 2011 and 2015. This makes the time sequence easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “By year 2011” and “Meanwhile” help signal relationships. However, the year-by-year structure leads to some repetition of “the number of households,” and the 2011 paragraph says the other groups “changed relatively lower,” which does not clearly explain their movements. Some links are also awkward, such as “In contrast” joining the overview’s two points. Grouping categories by similar trends, and using clearer comparisons between years, would make progression less mechanical and cohesion more precise.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The vocabulary is sufficient to describe the chart, with relevant terms such as “income,” “categories,” “increased,” “remained stable” and “reached.” The writer also attempts a range of reporting phrases, including “was recorded” and “approximately.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural: “Families having income,” “rose up a lot like never before,” and “changed relatively lower” do not express the intended comparisons clearly. There are also spelling errors, including “incomne,” “nuber,” “adn” and “amomng,” which reduce accuracy. Aim for concise, conventional chart language and check spelling carefully; precise verbs such as “rose,” “fell” and “remained unchanged” would improve clarity.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses joined with “while” and “in contrast,” and the main trends are generally understandable. However, some sentence structures are faulty or incomplete. For example, “Overall, Families having income more than $100,000 or more increased significantly over period” has an unclear subject and an incomplete comparison, while “By year 2011, the number increased in the number of households…” is awkwardly constructed. There are also errors in articles, plurals and agreement, as in “25 millions,” and punctuation problems, including a comma splice-like run-on at the end of the 2007 paragraph. Use a clear subject–verb structure for each comparison and review articles, number agreement and sentence boundaries.

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