Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-11-04

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 given line graph illustrates the number of households in the US by their annual earnings in 2007,2011 and 2015.

Overall,the amount of houses having the earning less than twenty five thousand dollars gradullay increases throughout the years whereas the the other individuals having income between twenty five and fiftey thousand low in 2007 than increases in 2011 then again drop.While the other two remain constant throughout the year.The fifth category having earning above one hundred thousand dollars showed a gradual inrease in 2015 and on the top of the table.

Moreover,the population having earning below twenty thousand have owned much of the houses throughout the year from 2007 to 2015.On the other hand Secondly the population who have earning between twenty five to fiftey thousand remained third.Then the Individuals on the fifth are those having annual earning between fiftey to less then one hundred thousand dollars.Lastly,we were having the category who owned most of the houses from all four of them.The individuals earning one hundred thousand dollars bought many houses throughout the years and got third ranking.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response4.5
Coherence and Cohesion4.5
Lexical Resource5.0
Grammatical Range and Accuracy5.0
Overall5.0

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response identifies the three years and attempts an overview, noting that the under-$25,000 group rose and that the $100,000-plus category was highest in 2015. However, several key comparisons are inaccurate or unclear. The $50,000–$74,999 group stayed around 21 million, but the $75,000–$99,999 group did not remain constant; it dipped slightly and then rose. The claim that households earning under $20,000 owned the most is unsupported, and the final ranking is contradictory: the highest-income group was the largest in 2007 and 2015, not third. To improve, report the main trends accurately and compare the largest and smallest categories with clear, relevant figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is an attempt to organise the response into an opening, an overview and a further paragraph, and linking expressions such as “Overall” and “On the other hand” show an effort to connect ideas. However, progression is difficult to follow because the second paragraph repeats and rearranges categories rather than presenting a clear comparison. Phrases such as “Secondly,” “Then,” and “Lastly” do not establish meaningful relationships, while “the fifth category” and “the individuals on the fifth” are unclear references. The overview also combines several trends in a long, confusing sentence. Group the information by trend or income range, use clear references to each category, and avoid connectors that do not accurately signal the relationship between points.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant task vocabulary, including “annual earnings,” “category,” “remained,” and “gradual increase,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, sometimes making the meaning difficult to interpret. For example, “population” and “individuals” are used for household groups, and “owned much of the houses” does not describe the chart’s measure of household numbers. “On the top of the table” is also unsuitable for describing a bar chart. Spelling errors such as “gradullay,” “fiftey,” and “inrease” are noticeable. Use precise chart language such as “households,” “number,” “rose,” and “accounted for,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and more extended sentence forms, including a contrast with “whereas” and a clause beginning “who have earning.” However, complex sentences are often faulty, and errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction make some comparisons hard to understand. For example, “the amount of houses … increases” has an agreement and noun-form problem, while “the other two remain constant throughout the year” does not clearly identify its subject and conflicts with the data. The sentence beginning “Moreover” also shifts between past and present forms, and “the individuals earning one hundred thousand dollars bought many houses” uses an unsuitable verb pattern for describing chart data. Practise concise past-tense comparisons and check each sentence for a clear subject and verb.

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