Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-21

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 below depicts the number of households in the united state by their per anum salary earning in 2007, 2011 and 2015 respectively.

Overall, it can be seen that people earning more than $100,000 increased dramatically from 2007 to 2015. It can also be observed that people earning between $75,000 to 99,00$ and people earning less than $25,000 remained same.

In 2007 people earning less than $25,000 were 25 millions and increased by 5 million till 2011 remaind same till 2015. Furthermore, income of those who earned between $25,000 to $99,999 remained unchanged from 2007 to 2015.

The number of households in the US had highest income was close to 30 million in 2007. A slight drop was noticed in the year of 2011. A significant and drmatic rose came in 2015 and people earning more than $100,000 reached to highest and recorded close to 35 million.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the chart’s subject and include an overview, correctly noting the strong rise in households earning $100,000 or more and the approximate 2007 and 2015 figures for this group. However, several key details are inaccurate or unclear: the under-$25,000 group rose from 25 million to about 28.5 million by 2011, not by 5 million, and it then dipped slightly. The $75,000–$99,999 group did not remain unchanged, while the $25,000–$99,999 range as a whole cannot be described as unchanged because its component groups moved differently. The stable $50,000–$74,999 figure is also missed. The response is one word below the required minimum. More accurate comparisons and fuller coverage of the main categories would strengthen the summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs of details. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Furthermore,” and “A slight drop” help signal the stages of the report. However, progression is weakened by grouping income bands imprecisely in “between $25,000 to $99,999,” then moving to the highest-income group without a clear comparison across all categories. Some references are also unclear, particularly “people earning more than $100,000” where the chart counts households, not people. Organise the details by contrasting the income bands and their changes over time, and use transitions to show whether figures rose, fell, or stayed stable. This would make the report easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant chart-reporting vocabulary, including “increased,” “remained,” “slight drop,” and “reached,” and the main topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or spelling errors reduce precision: “per anum salary earning” is not a natural way to describe annual household income, while “drmatic rose” and “remaind” are misspelled. “People” is also repeatedly used where “households” is the accurate term. Aim for precise, varied language for describing data, such as “the number of households,” “rose to,” and “remained stable.” Check spelling and use standard income-band labels so the reader can interpret comparisons without uncertainty.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, including “Overall, it can be seen that…” and “A slight drop was noticed…”. Meaning is usually recoverable, but errors in sentence construction and grammatical patterns are noticeable. For example, “people earning between $75,000 to 99,00$” uses an incorrect range construction, and “reached to highest” has an unnecessary preposition and lacks a clear noun phrase. In “In 2007 people earning less than $25,000 were 25 millions,” the plural form after a number is incorrect, and the sentence would be clearer with “there were 25 million households.” Practise accurate comparisons, articles, and prepositions, and vary sentence structures while checking each sentence for complete, natural grammar.

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