Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-10-29

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 5.0)

The bar chart illustrates the number of households in the US by their yearly income from 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Overall, 2007 had the lowest number of annual income, while 2011 and 2015 had almost the same house hold income in US,

However, in 2007, $75,000-$99,999 had the lowest households income at about $14,000,000, whlist $ 100,000 or more had the highest annual households income of about $29,000,000. Less than $ 25,000 and $ 25, 000- $ 499,9999 had $ 25, 000, 000 and about $ 27, 000,000 respectively.

In 2011 and 2015, $ 100,000 and more, and Less than $ 25, 000 had almost the same of the annual households income in US at 27 milions dollars respectively, whil $ 25,000- $ 49,999 and $ 50, 000-$74, 999 were the lowest households annual income. However, in 2015, $100, 000 and over had the highest households income in US with about $33,000,000

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify the income groups and make some relevant comparisons, including that the $75,000–$99,999 group was smallest in 2007 and that the $100,000-or-more group was largest in 2015. However, the overview is inaccurate: 2007 did not have the lowest total number of households, and 2011 and 2015 were not almost the same overall. Several figures are also misreported or unclear. For example, the $25,000–$49,999 group was about 29.5 million in 2011, not one of the lowest groups, and the 2015 figure for the highest-income group was about 33.5 million. The response is also 7 words below the 150-word minimum; the 9 words copied from the task prompt do not count. Add a clear, accurate overview and report the main trends more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing figures for 2007 and for 2011/2015. This gives the reader some sense of how the information is organised. However, progression is limited because the overview makes a broad claim that is not then clearly supported, and the final paragraph combines two years without consistently distinguishing their figures. Linking words such as “Overall,” “However,” and “whilst” are used, but “However” does not always express a clear contrast, and the repeated use of “income” makes the relationships between categories and household numbers harder to follow. Organise the details by year or by notable trends, and use clear references to each year and income band.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “bar chart,” “annual,” “lowest,” “highest,” and “respectively,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations make the data difficult to interpret. “Households income” is repeated where you mean the number of households in an income band, while “annual income” sometimes suggests the income amount rather than the household count. There are also spelling and number-format errors, such as “whlist,” “whil,” “milions,” and “$499,9999.” Use precise terms such as “households,” “income band,” and “number of households,” and write the figures consistently in millions rather than attaching dollar signs to household counts.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, including a contrast with “while” and a sentence beginning “However, in 2015.” Nevertheless, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently enough to make some comparisons unclear. For example, “2007 had the lowest number of annual income” does not form a clear grammatical comparison, and “had almost the same of the annual households income” is an incomplete or faulty construction. The sentence beginning “In 2011 and 2015” also joins several categories without a clear grammatical relationship. Punctuation is inconsistent, including a comma after the overview and awkward spacing around symbols. Practise concise comparison structures, such as “The figure rose from … to …,” and check that each sentence has a clear subject and comparison.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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