Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

The Bar chart compare the propotions of householdes in the US by their annual income in between 2001,2011 and 2015.

Overall people who are earning between $25,000-$49,999 remained the highest numbers of households in these year,Followed by the less than $25,000 and the lowest number of people who earn $75,000-99,999hold the house possesions.

People with less then $25,000 annualy in 2007 were holding owneship 25 millions houses and it marginally increasead in 2011 and reached at approximately 27 millions and remained stabled in 2015.In contrast $25,000-$49,999 had possesions of household respectively 27 millions ,30 millions and decreased in 2015 at 28 millions

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response identifies the chart’s subject and attempts an overview, but it reports only two of the five income groups and leaves out important trends, including the $100,000-or-more group, which was the largest in 2007 and rose to about 33.5 million by 2015. The claim that $25,000–$49,999 households were highest throughout is inaccurate: this group was highest in 2011, but the highest-income group led in 2007 and 2015. Some figures are also imprecise, such as about 27 million for the under-$25,000 group in 2011 rather than approximately 28.5 million. The response is 94 words, below the required 150, so the report is substantially incomplete. Include all categories and compare their main changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the response: an opening sentence is followed by an overview and then details about two income bands. The contrast marker “In contrast” also signals a relationship between the figures. However, the report ends abruptly after this comparison, with no progression through the remaining categories or concluding synthesis. Several ideas are crowded into long sentences, and punctuation and spacing make the relationships harder to follow—for example, the overview runs together after “these year” and the final sentence combines three years without clear separation. Use distinct paragraphs for the overview and grouped details, and organise comparisons consistently by income band or year.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant chart vocabulary, including “annual income,” “remained,” “highest,” “lowest,” and “in contrast,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unclear, such as “proportions” for a chart showing numbers of households, “holding ownership,” and “house possessions.” Spelling errors—including “propotions,” “householdes,” “possesions,” and “stabled”—are noticeable and sometimes slow the reader. Prefer precise reporting language such as “the number of households,” “stood at,” and “rose to,” and check spelling carefully. Avoid describing households as people when the chart measures households.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and more developed sentence forms, including a comparison introduced by “In contrast,” and the main figures can usually be understood. However, grammatical errors are frequent, particularly in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence boundaries. For example, “The Bar chart compare” needs subject–verb agreement, while “it marginally increasead” has an incorrect verb form and tense. The opening phrase “in between 2001,2011 and 2015” also has an incorrect preposition and punctuation, and the overview’s sentence structure is incomplete around “the lowest number of people who earn … hold.” Use complete sentences with consistent past-tense reporting, and punctuate each comparison clearly.

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

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