Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-02

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 compares the count of households by their yearly income from 2007 to 2015.

Overall, the number of households remained steady throughout the years but, the housholds that had annual income more than 1 hundred thousand dollars had increased exceptionally.

According to the bar chart, in 2007, the number of households that had yearly income less than 25 thousand dollars was 25 million as compared to just 15 million for those that had income between 50 thousand dollars to 74 thousand dollars. The one that earned between 50 thousand dollars and 99 thousand dollars contributed from 20 to about 26 million. Only the households that earn more than 1 hundred thousand dollars touched the number 30 million. The number of households of all catagories in both years have increased a bit except for the number of houses that have income more than 1 hundred thousand dollars.It slightly droped in 2011 and than showed a sharp increase in 2015 and went over 30 million.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the chart’s subject and give an overview, noting that the $100,000-or-more group rose markedly. However, the overview that household numbers “remained steady” is too broad: the highest-income group climbed to about 33.5 million by 2015, while the other groups changed in different ways. Some figures and comparisons are inaccurate or unclear. For example, the $50,000–$74,999 group was about 21 million, not 15 million, in 2007; the $75,000–$99,999 group was about 14.5 million, not part of a combined 20–26 million figure. The claim that all categories increased slightly is also incorrect. Select the main trends accurately and compare the five income bands more systematically.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph with figures and trends. This gives the reader a general route through the information. However, progression within the final paragraph is difficult to follow because it moves from 2007 figures to a broad comparison and then to changes across “both years” without clearly identifying the categories or years. The phrase “The one that earned” also makes the reference unclear, and the final sentences run together at “dollars.It”. Use separate sentences and group the data by meaningful patterns—for example, the three lower-income bands and the two highest bands. Clearer links between each comparison would make the organisation more coherent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary such as “compares,” “annual income,” “contributed,” and “sharp increase,” and the reader can generally understand the topic. However, the range is limited and some expressions are imprecise or informal for describing statistical data. “The one that earned” is an unclear way to refer to a household income category, while “touched the number 30 million” is not a natural collocation. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “housholds,” “catagories,” and “droped,” which reduce accuracy. Aim for precise category labels and standard trend language, such as “stood at,” “rose to,” and “declined slightly,” while checking spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response includes both simple statements and some attempts at more complex structures, such as “the number of households that had yearly income less than 25 thousand dollars was 25 million as compared to…” However, errors are frequent enough to make several sentences awkward or unclear. In the overview, “but” is incorrectly placed after a comma, and “had increased” does not fit the past-time description as naturally as “increased.” The sentence beginning “The number of households of all categories…” has faulty agreement and tense (“have increased”), and “in both years” does not clearly identify the periods. The final sentence also needs punctuation between sentences. Practise consistent past-tense reporting and build shorter, controlled comparisons before adding complex clauses.

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