Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-24

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 illustrates the different ranges of annual salary (in dollars) earned by households in the United States, and the survey was conducted in 2007,2011 and 2015.

Overall, there are five different ranges included in the graph (less than 25k, 25k to 49999, 50k-74999, 75k-99999, 100k or above). Households who earned 100k or above annually, remained at the top in all three years, followed by people with the range of 25k-49k and third position, who had less than 25k. Also, rest of the two ranges were shown at lower position in the terms of ranking.

In 2007, slightly less than 30 million people earned 100k or above, followed by people range between 25k to 49k with just above 25 million households. At third position, around 25 million middle class people had less than 25k income. While people between 50k-74k and 75k-99,999, accounted around 20 million and just less than 15 million.

In 2011, people with 100k or above range declined under 30 million, followed by increase for 25k-49k

(30 million). Also, individuals with less than 25k income rose upto 28 million, and rest of the two ranges remained at the same position.

In 2015, households with the range of 100k or above, shown significant increase, over 30 million, followed by people earning between 25k -49k fell upto 27 million. While rest of the three ranges accounted around over 25 million, and remained 2 same.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the five income bands and provide a year-by-year account, with a useful overview that the $100,000-or-more group was largest throughout. However, some key comparisons are inaccurate or unclear. In 2015, the $25,000–$49,999 group was about 28.5 million, not 27 million, and the three remaining groups did not all exceed 25 million or stay unchanged: the $50,000–$74,999 group stayed near 21 million, while the $75,000–$99,999 group rose to about 15 million. The overview also misstates the ranking in 2011, when the $25,000–$49,999 group was slightly larger than the highest-income group. Select the main trends more precisely and distinguish households from people.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for 2007, 2011 and 2015. This makes the information easy to locate, and sequencing by year is a sensible approach. However, the progression is sometimes weakened by repetitive phrasing such as “followed by” and “rest of the two ranges,” and some links do not make the relationship between figures clear. For example, “While people between…” is a fragment, and the final sentence groups three categories together without explaining their different trends. Use comparisons to connect related categories across years, and make each paragraph’s focus explicit rather than relying on repeated ranking language.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “declined,” “significant increase,” “accounted” and “range,” and the income categories are generally identifiable. However, several choices are imprecise or unnatural for describing household data. “Annual salary earned by households” suggests individual wages, whereas the chart reports household income; “people range” and “middle class people” are also unsuitable or unsupported labels. Repeated use of “position” and “followed by” limits flexibility, while shorthand such as “100k” and “25k” is less formal than writing the full amounts. Choose precise terms such as “households,” “income bracket” and “stood at,” and vary comparison language while keeping the chart’s categories exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses beginning with “While” and “followed by,” and the main message is usually understandable. Some grammatical errors nevertheless recur. The sentence “Households who earned 100k or above annually, remained at the top” has an unnecessary comma and an awkward relative clause; “In 2011, people with 100k or above range declined” lacks a clear subject for the change; and “households with the range … shown significant increase” is missing a finite verb. There are also inconsistent tense and number patterns, as in “rest of the two ranges remained at the same position.” Build complete sentences with clear subjects and verbs, and check articles, agreement and punctuation when revising.

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