Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-09

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 6.0)

The bar graph illustrates the proportion of one nation spent their weekly earning on different activies in the year 1968 and 2018 .

Overall , it is evident that income mostly spent on food as compared to fuel and power which was minimum .

To begin with , the percentage of income spent on food in 1968 was approximatly 35 percent and 17 percent in 2018 . However , housing expense rose from nearly 10 percent to 18 percent . The proportion of fuel or power and personal goods in 2018 were same at almost 4 percent but in 1968 it were about 6 percent followed by 8 percent .

Nevertheless , the percentage of household goods were same in both years at almost 7 percent . Whereas , clothing and footware expenditure declined at almost 2 percent . Moreover , the proportion of transport spending was surge in 2018 was nearly 14 percent as compared to 1968 was about 7 percent . The leisure cost was9 percent in 1968 but 22 percent in 2018 it was signifiacantly increased in spending .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main changes and include several relevant figures: food falls from about 35% to 17%, housing rises from 10% to around 18–19%, and leisure increases to 22%. The overview also recognises food as a major category and fuel and power as a small one. However, the overview is not fully accurate across both years: food is the largest item in 1968, but leisure—not food—is the largest in 2018. Some comparisons are also unclear or imprecise, such as saying clothing expenditure declined “at almost 2 percent” rather than reporting its fall from 10% to 5%. A clearer overview of the contrasting leaders and the main rises and falls, supported by precise comparisons, would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details, and it groups several categories together. This gives the reader a broadly coherent account. However, progression within the detail paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow. For example, “The proportion of fuel or power and personal goods in 2018 were same” combines two categories without clearly distinguishing their 1968 figures, while “Nevertheless” and “Whereas” do not establish clear logical relationships between the points that follow. Some linking phrases feel mechanical, and the final sentence contains several ideas in an awkward sequence. Organise the comparisons more deliberately—for example, group categories that rose and those that fell—and use simpler, more precise transitions and references.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “proportion,” “declined,” “expenditure,” and “significantly increased,” so the chart is generally understandable. However, several word-choice, collocation, and spelling problems reduce precision. “Weekly earning” is not the natural phrase here; “weekly income” or “weekly spending” would fit. “The leisure cost” is less suitable than “spending on leisure,” and “was surge” is an inaccurate construction. There are also misspellings such as “activies,” “approximatly,” “footware,” and “signifiacantly.” Aim for accurate, natural collocations and check spelling carefully; this will make your comparisons sound more controlled and appropriate for an academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons with “as compared to” and clauses introduced by “whereas.” The main information is usually recoverable, but some grammatical errors affect clarity. For example, “the proportion of one nation spent” lacks a grammatical subject construction, and “income mostly spent” needs a passive verb form. Agreement is also inconsistent in “the proportion … were same” and “in 1968 it were.” The sentence beginning “Moreover” has a faulty comparison structure: “was surge … as compared to 1968 was about 7 percent.” Use complete clauses with consistent tense and agreement, such as “Transport spending rose from about 8% in 1968 to 14% in 2018.” More accurate sentence patterns would improve control while retaining variety.

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