Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-12

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 bar chart illustrates that how families can utallize their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.

Overall, in early times a major portion of weekly income (i.e. 35%) had spent on food by most of the people, meanwhile, later on the major portion (i.e. 23%) of weekly income had spent on leisure. Furthermore, cost on fuel and power and personal goods is extremely low throughout the time.

In 1968, an effective weekly income was spending on food which dominated the rest of the terms throughout the period. About 35% of the total income had utallized there. Meanwhile, people spend their income on hosehold goods, personal goods and transport equally i.e. about 7% and rest of the things flectuated.

As compared to 2018, roughly 23% of weekly income had spent on leisure. Whereas, fuel and power and personal goods had equally estributed, i.e. hardly 3.5%. Meanwhile, weekly income spent on household goods were same through out the time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main shift from food being the largest category in 1968 (35%) to leisure in 2018 (about 22–23%), and you note that fuel and power and personal goods were low. However, coverage is partial and some figures are inaccurate: in 1968, household goods, personal goods and transport were each 8%, not about 7%; in 2018, fuel and power and personal goods were 4%, rather than 3.5%. The overview also says these costs were extremely low throughout, although housing rose from 10% to 19% and transport from 8% to 14%. Several categories and their changes receive little or no reporting. Select the largest rises and falls and compare them accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and separate paragraphs for the two years. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression within the body paragraphs is limited, and some comparisons are not clearly connected. For example, “As compared to 2018” introduces a year-specific description rather than a direct comparison, while “rest of the things fluctuated” does not explain which categories changed or how. Linking words such as “Meanwhile” and “Furthermore” are repeated or do not always express the relationship precisely. Organise the details around clear comparisons—such as categories that rose, fell or stayed stable—and use cohesive devices to show those relationships.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “weekly income,” “major portion,” “dominated” and “equally,” and the reader can generally identify the categories being discussed. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation and spelling errors make the account less clear or natural. Phrases such as “an effective weekly income was spending on food” and “rest of the things fluctuated” do not convey the intended information precisely. There are also misspellings, including “utallize,” “hosehold” and “estributed.” Use standard chart-reporting expressions such as “accounted for,” “was spent on” and “remained unchanged,” and check spelling and category names carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and longer sentences, including a contrast introduced by “Whereas” and an overview beginning “Overall.” However, errors occur frequently in sentence construction and verb forms, and some sentences are difficult to interpret. For example, “The bar chart illustrates that how families can utallize…” has an unnecessary “that” and an unsuitable tense, while “35% had spent on food” lacks a clear grammatical subject and uses an awkward passive form. “Weekly income spent on household goods were same” also has agreement and article problems. Practise accurate patterns such as “Families spent 35% of their income on food” and “The figure for household goods remained the same,” then check each sentence for a clear subject and verb.

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