Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below gives information about how families in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.

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

1968 and 2018: average weekly spending by families

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The chart illustrate the way of families in one country and amount of money spent weekly between 1968 and in 2018. The units are measured in percentage.

Overall, the large amount of money spending on food while the least amount of money is spending on fuel and power and personal goods.

In the year 1968, 35% of weekly average money is spending while in 2018 it remain low as 17%. However, in housing 10% amount is spending while it reached at highest point about 19% in the year 2018. Furthermore, in fuel and power very low amount of money is spending in both years about 6% in 1968 and 4% in 2018 and also4% in personal goods. On the other hand, clothing and footware 10% of weekly income is spending in the year 1968 and it decreased to 5% in 2018.

In addition, household goods, personal goods and transport remained stagnant in the year 1968 about 8%. Moreover, in the year 2018 household goods spending income about 8% while 4% in personal goods and 14% in transport which is highest as compared to others. In contrast, 9% of weekly income is spending in leisure in the year 1968 while 22% in 2018 which reached to the peak point.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main shift from food to leisure and housing: food falls from 35% to 17%, while leisure rises from 9% to 22% and housing from 10% to 19%. You also cover the other categories and give relevant figures, so the response addresses the task. However, the overview is not fully accurate: fuel and power is the smallest category in both years, whereas personal goods is not among the lowest in 1968, at 8%. The claim that transport is the highest in 2018 is also incorrect; leisure is highest. Some comparisons are reported without a clear overall synthesis. Make the overview more precise and distinguish the largest and smallest categories in each year.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs reporting figures. The sequence of categories is generally easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “However,” “Furthermore,” and “On the other hand” help signal comparisons. At times, though, these links are mechanical or do not express the relationship accurately. For example, “In addition” introduces a group of figures that partly repeats earlier information, while “In contrast” is used for the rise in leisure without a clear contrasting point. The sentence about categories remaining “stagnant” also makes the progression harder to follow because it refers only to 1968. Group related increases and decreases more deliberately, and use transitions that match the comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “weekly income,” “decreased,” “reached,” and “percentage,” and the reader can generally understand the comparisons. However, several phrases are repetitive or imprecise, especially repeated forms of “amount of money … is spending.” Expressions such as “remained stagnant” are not suitable for figures that are only being described for one year, and “highest point” or “peak point” is repeated where “largest share” would be more natural. There are also spelling and word-choice issues, including “footware” and “stagnant.” Aim for concise, accurate collocations for describing proportions and changes, rather than repeatedly using “spending” in the same construction.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple and longer sentences, including comparisons introduced by “while” and “whereas,” but errors in verb forms and sentence construction are evident. For example, “The chart illustrate” has subject–verb disagreement, and “35% of weekly average money is spending” uses an incorrect verb pattern. The sentence beginning “In addition, household goods…” is also difficult to interpret because its time reference and structure are unclear. Articles and prepositions are sometimes missing or awkward, as in “reached at highest point.” These errors do not prevent the reader from understanding the main figures, but they reduce accuracy. Practise reliable patterns such as “X accounted for Y%” and “the figure rose from X to Y,” checking agreement and tense in each sentence.

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