Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-03

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 4.5)

The bar chart elucidates information about the number of households in the US by their annual income in 2007,2011and 2015.

overall , it is clearly shown in the chart about the nuimber of households in the US and also their annual income

first of all i have to talk about the year 2007

there are almost 25 number of household and there annual income was less than 25000 dollars then there are above then 25 alomst 27 to 28 households and there income was between 25,000 to 49,999 dollars look at the 20 household and there income was 50,000 to 74,000 thousand dollars then look at the 10 to 15 number of household and there total income was 100,000 dollars in the year 2007

then we look at the year 2011 the household 25 to 30 there income was less then 25,000 dollars and the number of household 30 there totl income was 25,000 to 49,999 dollars then look at the household number 10 there income was 75,000 to 99,999.then we look at the year 2015

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response4.0
Coherence and Cohesion4.0
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall4.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

The response identifies the chart’s subject and attempts to report figures for 2007 and 2011, including the approximate 25 million households below $25,000 in 2007 and around 30 million in the $25,000–$49,999 group in 2011. However, it responds only minimally to the task: the 2015 data are not reported at all, and there is no meaningful overview of the main trends or comparisons. Several figures or categories are also misreported: in 2007, the 29.5 million figure belongs to households earning $100,000 or more, not the $75,000–$99,999 group; the latter was about 14.5 million. The opening overview merely repeats the topic. Select the key highs, lows and changes, and summarise them accurately across all three years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the report chronologically, using phrases such as “first of all” and “then we look at the year 2011.” This gives the reader some indication of the sequence. However, the response has no clear paragraph structure or overall progression, and it ends just as the 2015 section is introduced. Long strings of information joined with “then” and “look at” make comparisons difficult to follow; the repeated “there” also leaves some references unclear. Group the information into an introduction, a concise overview and logically organised detail paragraphs. Use linking language to show contrasts and changes between income groups and years, rather than relying on repeated sequencing phrases.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant vocabulary for describing the chart, including “households,” “annual income,” “between,” and “less than,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and repetitive, with “look at,” “there,” and “number of household” used repeatedly. Several expressions are imprecise or unsuitable for describing data, such as “there are almost 25 number of household” and “their total income was 100,000 dollars,” which confuses household counts with income categories. Spelling errors such as “nuimber” and “totl” also reduce clarity. Build a more precise set of chart terms, including “stood at,” “approximately,” “income bracket,” and “rose/fell/remained stable,” and check spelling and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts to connect information in longer sentences, but grammatical control is weak and the sentence structures are mostly repetitive. Errors in agreement and sentence formation appear in examples such as “there are almost 25 number of household” and “the household 25 to 30 there income was less then 25,000 dollars.” Tense use is also inconsistent when describing past data, and punctuation is often missing, producing run-on sentences. Capitalisation is inconsistent, including the lowercase “overall” and “i.” These errors frequently make relationships between the figures and income groups difficult to understand. Practise writing short, complete past-tense sentences first, then combine them with accurate clauses using “while” or “whereas,” and punctuate each sentence clearly.

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