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 illusrates, the cost of weekly expenditure each fammily spent in one counrty in 1968 and in 2018.

Overall, it is clear that in 1968 mojority of the families spent on food, while in 2018 housing was their main concern. Notably, spending on household good remained the same in both years.

To begin with, weekly spending on income in 1968, most of the families spent on food claiming at 35%, followed by hosing and clothing and foothware which took 10% of their income. Leisure was another activity which consumes the weekly income of people at above 5 %. Transport, personal goods and house hold goods consumed the similar amount of money of families accounting for approximately 7% each. Fuel and power was the least activity that families weekly compensate claiming above 5%.

In 2018, their was changes in spending. Families spent below 25% in leisure, above 20% in housing and food, about 13% in transport and nearly 7%. 5% and below was spent on clothing and foothware fuel and power and personal goods.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main contrast accurately: food was the largest category in 1968, while leisure and housing were prominent in 2018, and household-goods spending stayed unchanged. You also include several relevant figures, such as 35% for food and 10% for housing and clothing in 1968. However, some 2018 details are unclear or inaccurate: housing was about 19%, food 17%, and leisure 22%, so saying both housing and food were “above 20%” is misleading. The final phrase “nearly 7%. 5% and below” does not clearly assign figures to categories. To strengthen the response, report the key 2018 values precisely and compare the largest rises and falls, especially the decline in food and the increases in leisure and housing.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for the two years. This makes the main direction of the comparison easy to follow, and phrases such as “Overall” and “In 2018” help signal the structure. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical, and some links between ideas are unclear. For example, “Families spent below 25% in leisure, above 20% in housing and food, about 13% in transport and nearly 7%. 5% and below…” leaves the reader unsure which figures belong to which categories. The 1968 paragraph also lists several categories without a clear ranking. Grouping figures into clear comparisons and using accurate references such as “respectively” would make progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “weekly expenditure,” “accounting for,” “followed by,” and “remained the same.” These choices help communicate the chart’s subject and comparisons. However, spelling errors and imprecise or unnatural expressions are noticeable, including “illusrates,” “fammily,” “counrty,” “mojority,” and “foothware.” Some word choices also obscure meaning: “spending on weekly income” and “Fuel and power was the least activity that families weekly compensate” are not natural ways to describe expenditure. Aim for accurate collocations such as “accounted for,” “spent on,” and “the smallest share of weekly income.” A more precise range of comparison vocabulary would also help you describe increases and decreases clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, including the overview sentence beginning “Overall” and the comparison introduced by “while.” The main ideas are generally recoverable, but some grammatical errors make parts of the response difficult to interpret. For example, “the cost of weekly expenditure each family spent” has an unclear sentence structure, while “In 2018, their was changes” has errors in agreement and the verb form. Articles and plurals are also inconsistent, as in “the similar amount” and “household good.” Some sentences contain incomplete or poorly connected clauses, particularly the final 2018 description. Practise building clear subject–verb sentences and checking agreement, articles, and punctuation before adding more complex structures.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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