Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-07-28

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 6.5)

A bar graph provides detailed data about the spendings of a family during a week. The studied chart compares 1968 percentages to 2018's.

Overall, it is clear that from 1968 to 2018 the way families spend their money greatly changed.

In fact, the spendings of families could be classified into three sections. The first, involves categories that, from 1968 to 2018, represent an equal percentage of families spendings. This section is only restricted to Household goods as percentages deticated to it stayed at about 8 per cent. The second, those that increased. For instance, families in 2018 spent twice as much money as they did in 1968 on housing. They also spend more on both housing and leisure. With leisure being the section that increasd the most and that in 2018 is the main cause of the spendings. In fact, it went from about 9 per cent to about 22 per cent. However, some sections had an opposite fate. From being the leading cause of 1968 families weekly spent money, food droped from 35 per cent to approximately half of that.

Personal goods, clothing and footware as long with fuel and power also decreased respectively from about 8, 10 and 6 per cent to 4,5 and 4 per cent.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response covers the main features of the chart well, identifying the significant shifts in spending patterns between 1968 and 2018. You successfully highlight the decline in food expenditure and the rise in leisure spending. However, the categorization of data is slightly confusing; for instance, you mention housing twice in the 'increased' section, which is redundant. Additionally, the overview is a bit brief. To reach a higher band, ensure that all data points are clearly grouped and that the comparison between the two years is consistently precise throughout the report.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices such as 'In fact', 'However', and 'For instance' to link ideas. However, the paragraphing is somewhat disjointed; the final sentence about personal goods and clothing feels like a dangling addition rather than a cohesive part of the analysis. Improving the transition between your categories and ensuring each paragraph has a clear thematic focus would enhance the flow of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'expenditure' (implied), 'percentages', and 'categories'. There are some minor errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'spendings' (which is non-standard; 'spending' or 'expenditure' is preferred), 'deticated' (dedicated), 'footware' (footwear), and 'droped' (dropped). To improve, focus on using more precise academic collocations and ensure accurate spelling of key terms. The vocabulary is sufficient to convey the meaning, but lacks the sophistication required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical slips, such as 'as long with' instead of 'along with', and some awkward phrasing like 'the section that increasd the most and that in 2018 is the main cause of the spendings'. Punctuation is generally functional, but there are minor errors in sentence construction. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and refining your use of relative clauses to make your sentences more fluid and grammatically sound.

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