Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-06

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 5.0)

The cart illustrate the information about how families in one country spent there weekly income in 1968 and 2018.

Overall , family spent the larger portion of income on food in 1968 while in 2018 they spent there most of the income in housing and leisure.

In 1968, the larger portion of income is covered by food while other are either decreased or increased.Fuel,power and personal goods covered less or equal than 5 percentage of the income in 2018 which is less compare to the expense of 1968.

In contrast, household goods contain the same amount of income in both the year while transport covers allmost double the income of 1968 in 2018.so the highest amount of income is covered by food in 1968 wheres in 2018 the largest portion of income is covered by leisure and the smaller amount of monthly expenses is fuel and power in 1968 while in 2018 the smaller portions of income is covered by 2 different categories which is fuel,power and personal goods

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main shift from food being the largest expense in 1968 to leisure and housing taking larger shares in 2018, and you note that household-goods spending stayed the same. These are relevant comparisons. However, several details are inaccurate or unclear: fuel and power and personal goods were not both at or below 5% in 1968; that comparison applies to 2018, when they were about 4% each. You also call fuel and power the smallest category in 1968, although it was the smallest at about 6%, and describe the 2018 leaders without giving their approximate shares (leisure 22%, housing 19%). Select the key figures accurately and explain the main rises and falls more clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic paragraph structure, moving from an introduction to an overview and then comparisons. Linking phrases such as “Overall” and “In contrast” help signal the intended organisation. However, progression is difficult to follow because several points are repeated: the final sentence restates which categories were largest and smallest, while the middle paragraphs do not develop a clear sequence of comparisons. Some connections are also unclear, particularly “while other are either decreased or increased” and the long final sentence joining multiple trends. Group the categories by notable changes—for example, decreases, increases and unchanged spending—and use shorter sentences with clear references to each year.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “weekly income,” “portion,” “household goods” and “transport,” and you attempt to describe comparisons with phrases such as “in contrast” and “double.” However, the range is limited and some word choices or collocations make the meaning imprecise. “The cart illustrate” does not accurately name the visual, and “covered by food” is an awkward way to describe spending. There are also spelling errors such as “there” for “their,” “allmost” and “wheres,” alongside inconsistent forms such as “expense” for a category’s share of income. Use precise chart language such as “accounted for,” “share” and “percentage,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and longer sentences, but control is inconsistent, and errors sometimes make relationships between ideas difficult to understand. For example, “The cart illustrate” has subject–verb disagreement, while “family spent” and “the larger portion … is covered” show problems with articles, number and tense consistency. The sentence beginning “In 1968, the larger portion…” also shifts awkwardly between present and past forms, and the final sentence runs several clauses together without effective punctuation. Build accurate simple sentences first, then add comparisons using controlled clauses. Check agreement, articles, past-tense forms and sentence boundaries when editing.

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