Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-20

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 given Illustration compares the households in US by per capita income across 3 different years and shows the significant rise in some, and stability in others.

The most visible difference is a huge increase in famiies that earn 100,000$ or more between the year 2011 and 2015, The remainder shows that the others have been somewhat consistent over the years with slight increase during the year 2011, execpt for the households with income of 75,000$-99,000$. Another noticable pattern is the rise in households with less than 25,000$-49,999$ in 2007 where they stood near 25 million, rose upto 30 million by the year 2011 and declined again in 2015 at 27 million households. As compared to the rest, 50,000$-99,000$ did not fluctuate much and held a steady position on the bar graph.

Overall, the shhown data provides a detailed comparison among different households of US from the year 2007 upto 2015.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the broad pattern that most income groups changed little, while the $100,000-or-more group rose markedly by 2015. However, some key details are inaccurate or unclear. The highest-income group did not rise between 2011 and 2015 alone: it fell from about 29.5 million in 2007 to 27.5 million in 2011, then climbed to 33.5 million. The description of “less than 25,000$-49,999$” combines two separate categories, and its figures do not match either one: the under-$25,000 group was about 25, 28.5 and 28 million, while the $25,000–$49,999 group was about 27, 29.5 and 28.5 million. A clearer overview and more accurate comparisons would make the report more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has an opening, a main discussion and a concluding sentence, and phrases such as “The most visible difference” and “Overall” help signal the direction of the report. However, the progression within the main paragraph is difficult to follow because several categories are grouped together without clear separation. For example, “the others” and “50,000$-99,000$” leave the reader unsure which income bands are being discussed, while the sentence about the under-$25,000 and $25,000–$49,999 ranges merges them. The final sentence repeats the general purpose rather than adding a useful summary. Organise the body by comparing clearly named income bands, and use linking phrases to show contrasts and changes without relying on broad references.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some suitable reporting language, including “significant rise,” “somewhat consistent,” “declined” and “fluctuate,” which helps describe trends. However, several choices are imprecise or unnatural for this chart: “per capita income” refers to income per person, whereas the chart groups households by annual income, and “households of US” is not a natural expression. “Rise in households with less than 25,000$-49,999$” also makes the category meaning unclear. Spelling slips such as “famiies,” “execpt,” “noticable” and “shhown” reduce accuracy. Use the chart’s exact category labels and practise standard forms such as “$25,000–$49,999 income bracket” and “US households.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of sentence forms, including a longer sentence beginning “The most visible difference…” and a comparison introduced by “As compared to the rest.” The main meaning is generally recoverable, but some grammatical and punctuation errors make the report less controlled. The opening would be clearer as “The illustration compares the number of US households by annual income in three years”; “households in US” is missing an article, and “across 3 different years” is awkwardly formed. The long second sentence contains comma splices and inconsistent capitalisation, while “rose upto 30 million” needs the two-word form “up to.” Check sentence boundaries, articles and punctuation, and divide long sentences when they contain several separate comparisons.

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