Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-26

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 bar chart illustates the yearly earnings of household in the US in 2007,2011 and 2015.

Overall, in 2015 more households tend to earn comparitively higher income than 2007 and 2011. Apparently, the number of households who earned 50,000$ to 74999$ remained almost the same in all corresponding years. Similarly, the data defined that the number of families who earned 75000$ to 99999$ also consists the same numbers in all three years.

Firstly, the number of households whose income is less than 25000 dollars seemed to increase from 25 million in 2007 to almost 30 million in 2011. Eventually, it concluded at around 28 million. Consequently, the data show the same trend for earners between 25000$ to 49999$ as they commenced from approximately 27 millions in 2007 and reached its pick by 2011 at 30 millions but in 2015 it showed a bit low data as it was somewhere around 28 millions.

Secondly, the numbers remained almost same for the house earnings between 50000$ to 74999$ in all years at on an average 21 millions. On the other hand the group of earners between 75000$ to 99999$ consisted the same numbers in all years. Meanwhile, the numbers remained highest from others for household income of [redacted phone]$ and more.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response6.0
Coherence and Cohesion6.0
Lexical Resource5.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.5
Overall6.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify several important patterns: the $50,000–$74,999 group stays at about 21 million, the two lower-income groups rise to a peak in 2011 before falling slightly, and the $100,000-or-more group is highest in 2015. The overview also attempts to compare the overall income distribution. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: the $75,000–$99,999 group does not remain the same, moving from about 14.5 to 14 and then 15 million, and the highest-income group is not highest in every year. The claim that 2015 households generally earned comparatively higher incomes is not fully demonstrated. Report the changing figures more precisely and make the overview reflect the main contrasts across all three years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and two detail paragraphs. Sequencing expressions such as “Overall,” “Firstly” and “Secondly” help signal the stages of the report, and the lower-income categories are discussed together. However, the progression is sometimes mechanical, and some links do not clarify the comparison: “Consequently” does not express the relationship between the two income groups, while “On the other hand” introduces a category that is not clearly contrasted with the preceding one. The final paragraph also repeats the claim that the $75,000–$99,999 group stayed unchanged, which conflicts with the chart. Grouping categories by similar trends and using clearer comparisons would make the organisation more cohesive.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “remained,” “increase,” “reached” and “approximately,” and the income bands are generally identifiable. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “yearly earnings of household,” “the data defined,” “consisted the same numbers” and “reached its pick.” Spelling errors in “illustates” and “comparitively” also reduce accuracy. Some expressions, including “house earnings” and “showed a bit low data,” make the description less precise than it needs to be. Use standard reporting language such as “the number of households,” “stood at,” “peaked at” and “declined slightly,” and check spelling and the natural pairing of verbs with data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses beginning “whose income is less than…” and “as they commenced…,” and the overall meaning is usually understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly with articles, agreement, plurals and sentence construction. For example, “household in the US” needs a plural form, “the number of families … also consists the same numbers” has an incorrect verb pattern, and “at on an average” contains an unnecessary preposition. The sentence beginning “Meanwhile” is also awkwardly constructed. Improve control of singular and plural forms, use consistent past tense for the historical data, and check that each sentence has a clear grammatical structure. More accurate complex sentences would make the comparisons easier to follow.

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