Cambridge 18 Writing Task 1 Test 2 - Sample Answers (Band 9 to 4-5)

Real band 9, 8, 7 and 6.5 sample answers for this prompt, plus a genuine band 4-5 answer so you can see exactly what pulls a score down. Every sample comes with examiner-style notes on Task Achievement, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range & Accuracy.

The Prompt

US Households by Annual Income (2007, 2011, 2015)

The chart below shows the number of households in the US by their annual income in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The Data

Number of US households (millions) by annual income

Less than $25,000: 27.0m (2007) → 29.0m (2011) → 28.0m (2015)

$25,000-$49,999: 27.5m (2007) → 26.5m (2011) → 24.5m (2015)

$50,000-$74,999: 22.0m (2007) → 20.0m (2011) → 22.0m (2015)

$75,000-$99,999: 15.0m (2007) → 14.0m (2011) → 16.0m (2015)

$100,000 or more: 25.0m (2007) → 24.0m (2011) → 30.0m (2015)

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Band 9

175 words

Identifies income polarisation as the genuinely notable pattern rather than simply listing five separate brackets' figures.

The table shows the number of households in the United States, in millions, across five annual income brackets in 2007, 2011, and 2015.

Overall, the number of households earning under $25,000 and those earning $100,000 or more both increased over the period, while middle-income brackets generally declined or fluctuated only slightly, suggesting a degree of income polarisation over these eight years.

Households earning less than $25,000 rose from 27.0 million in 2007 to 29.0 million in 2011, before falling back slightly to 28.0 million by 2015, remaining higher overall than at the start of the period. Meanwhile, households in the $25,000-$49,999 bracket declined steadily throughout, from 27.5 million to 24.5 million.

The most striking change occurred at the top of the income scale: households earning $100,000 or more fell slightly from 25.0 million to 24.0 million between 2007 and 2011, likely reflecting the 2008 financial crisis, before rising sharply to 30.0 million by 2015, the largest figure for any bracket in any year shown. The middle brackets, $50,000-$74,999 and $75,000-$99,999, showed comparatively modest fluctuations throughout.

Examiner Notes

Task Achievement: Accurately covers all five income brackets with a precise overview identifying the genuinely notable pattern of income polarisation across the period.

Coherence & Cohesion: A clear overview precedes detail organised by income bracket, with cohesive devices ("meanwhile", "the most striking change") linking figures naturally.

Lexical Resource: Precise, varied language ("polarisation", "comparatively modest", "reflecting") used accurately throughout.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy: Wide range of accurate structures, including comparatives, used with full control.

Band 8

157 words

Accurate and clearly organised, just slightly less analytically framed than a band 9 answer.

The table shows the number of households in the US, in millions, across five income brackets in 2007, 2011, and 2015.

Overall, the number of households earning under $25,000 and those earning $100,000 or more both increased over the period, while the middle-income brackets showed smaller changes.

Households earning less than $25,000 rose from 27.0 million in 2007 to 29.0 million in 2011, then fell slightly to 28.0 million in 2015. Households earning $25,000 to $49,999 fell steadily throughout, from 27.5 million to 24.5 million.

The biggest change was at the top of the income scale: households earning $100,000 or more fell slightly to 24.0 million by 2011, before rising sharply to 30.0 million by 2015, the highest figure shown for any bracket. The middle brackets changed only a little over the whole period. This suggests that higher-income households recovered strongly from the economic downturn, while lower and middle-income households experienced more modest and mixed changes overall.

Examiner Notes

Task Achievement: Covers all five income brackets accurately with a clear overview, including the two extreme brackets, though described a little more simply than in the band 9 answer.

Coherence & Cohesion: Clearly organised with an overview followed by detail grouped by bracket; cohesive devices are accurate throughout.

Lexical Resource: Good range of vocabulary for describing figures, though slightly less analytical than the higher-band answer's phrasing.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy: Accurate throughout, with a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures.

Band 7

150 words

All figures are correct, but the overall polarisation pattern is only loosely implied rather than clearly stated.

The table shows the number of households in the US by income level in 2007, 2011, and 2015.

Overall, the lowest and highest income groups both increased over the period, while the middle groups changed less.

Households earning under $25,000 went from 27.0 million to 29.0 million in 2011, then dropped a little to 28.0 million. The $25,000 to $49,999 group went down from 27.5 million to 24.5 million.

The biggest change was in the highest income group, which dropped to 24.0 million in 2011 but then went up a lot, to 30.0 million by 2015. The middle groups did not change much. This suggests that households at the highest income level recovered much more strongly after 2011 than households at lower income levels, which generally saw smaller and less consistent changes across the whole eight-year period shown in the table overall, especially in the years immediately following the recovery.

Examiner Notes

Task Achievement: Reports all five income brackets accurately with a basic overview, but the overview does not clearly identify the polarisation pattern the way the higher-band answers do.

Coherence & Cohesion: Clearly organised by income group, though figures are listed with fairly plain connecting language throughout.

Lexical Resource: Adequate range for the task; figures are accurate but connecting language stays fairly plain throughout.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy: Generally accurate, mostly simple sentence structures; meaning is always clear.

Band 6.5

150 words

The figures are all correct, but agreement errors appear in almost every sentence.

The table show the number of household in the US by income level in 2007, 2011, and 2015.

Overall, the lowest and highest income group both increase over the period, while the middle group change less.

Household earning under $25,000 go from 27.0 million to 29.0 million in 2011, then drop a little to 28.0 million. The $25,000 to $49,999 group go down from 27.5 million to 24.5 million.

The biggest change was in the highest income group, which drop to 24.0 million in 2011 but then go up a lot, to 30.0 million by 2015. The middle group did not change much. This suggest that household at the highest income level recover much more strongly after 2011 than household at lower income level, which generally saw smaller and less consistent change across the whole eight-year period shown in the table overall, especially in the year immediately following the recovery.

Examiner Notes

Task Achievement: Reports all five income brackets accurately, matching the content of the band 7 answer.

Coherence & Cohesion: Clearly organised by income group, following the same structure as the higher-band answers.

Lexical Resource: Limited by "household" and "group" being used without their plural forms throughout.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy: Frequent subject-verb agreement errors ("table show", "group both increase", "group go down") appear in nearly every sentence.

Band 4-5 - What to Avoid

29 words

No exact figures appear anywhere in the report, and three of the five income brackets are never mentioned.

This table show household income in America.

Rich people number go up, this is good economy I think.

Poor people also more, this is my opinion about this table.

Examiner Notes

Task Achievement: No exact figures are given for any income bracket, three of the five brackets are never mentioned at all, and a personal opinion is inserted, which has no place in a Task 1 report. At well under 150 words, the response is also underlength.

Coherence & Cohesion: Reads as three short, disconnected remarks rather than an organised comparison across all five brackets.

Lexical Resource: Vague, repetitive vocabulary ("rich people", "poor people") used instead of the specific figures given in the table.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy: Frequent errors throughout ("this table show", "rich people number go up").

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These sample answers are written independently for Prep IELTS Now to illustrate real band-score differences. They are a study aid, not official Cambridge or IELTS material.