Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-14

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 4.0)

THE CHART SHO ABOUT THE FAMILIES IN CONE COUNTRY PER WEEKLY USAGE INCOME 1968 AND IN 2018.

THE CHART ILUSTRATE THE INFORMATION IN 1968 MOSTLY FOOD THE TOTAL WEEKLY USAGE 35 AND IN 2018 THE CHART SHOW THE TOATLLY USING INCOME SOME THING 16.

THE BIGIST MOVE ON FOOD LINE IN 1968 AND HOUSING THE TOTALLY USAGE AROUND ABOUT 17 SOMETHING IN 2018 THE SECOND USAGE IN 2018 IS LEISURE THEY GROW UP TO 22 SOME THINNG PERCENT OF WEEKLY INCOME AND 1968 DRCIRIES TO 9%.IN THIRD TRANSPORT INCOME IN 2018 INCRESED TO AROUND ABOUT 8%

THE HOUSEHOLD GOODS TOTAL INCOME INCRESE TO SAME IN THIS YEARS 7% BUT PERSNOL USEING FOOD INCOME INCRESE TO 8 PERCENT AND CLOTHINTHING COME 10 PERCENT USAGE

THE CHART BELOW THE USAGE HOW MANY SPEND THE INCOME

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify several relevant categories and notice important contrasts, especially that food was highest in 1968 and leisure was highest in 2018. However, the response only minimally summarises the chart: there is no clear, accurate overview of the main changes, and several figures or comparisons are incorrect or unclear. For example, food in 2018 is about 17%, not “16,” and transport rose to about 14%, not 8%. The statement that personal goods increased to 8% reverses the trend; it fell from about 8% to 4%. The response also ends with a vague restatement rather than a useful summary. It is 17 words below the required minimum, which further limits the detail reported. Select the largest changes and report them accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic attempt to group information into paragraphs, and the response moves from food and housing to other spending categories. However, the ideas are not arranged in a clear progression, and several sentences are difficult to follow, such as “THE BIGIST MOVE ON FOOD LINE IN 1968 AND HOUSING THE TOTALLY USAGE…” The repeated use of “the chart” does not show how the points relate, while phrases such as “in third transport” do not clearly signal a comparison. The final sentence repeats the task rather than concluding the summary. Organise the response into a brief overview followed by comparisons between the two years, and use clear links such as “by contrast” and “while” to connect accurate points.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses a small set of relevant terms, including “food,” “housing,” “leisure,” “transport,” and “weekly income,” so the reader can recognise the chart’s subject. However, vocabulary is basic and repetitive, and frequent spelling and word-choice problems strain understanding. Examples include “sho,” “ilustrate,” “bigist,” “persnol,” and “clothingthing.” Phrases such as “totally usage” and “some thing percent” are not natural ways to describe proportions. Use standard chart language consistently, such as “accounted for,” “share,” “rose,” and “fell,” and check spelling carefully. More precise category names and comparison verbs would make the report clearer without requiring complicated vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The response attempts simple statements about the chart, but sentence structures are very limited and frequent grammatical errors sometimes distort the intended meaning. For example, “THE CHART ILUSTRATE THE INFORMATION IN 1968 MOSTLY FOOD” lacks a clear sentence structure, and “THEY GROW UP TO 22” does not form an accurate grammatical description of the figure. Verb forms and agreement are also unreliable, as in “the chart show” and “the household goods total income increse.” Punctuation is inconsistent, with a missing space after “9%.” Build clear sentences with a subject and verb, for example, “Food accounted for 35% in 1968, compared with about 17% in 2018.” Practise past-tense reporting and accurate comparative clauses.

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