Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-07-29

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 chart illustrates the average weekly spending which are food, housing, fuel and power, clothing and footware, household goods, personal goods, transport and lastly leisure by families of a country in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, the food expenses is the highest among the other expenses in 1968. The fuel and power expenses was the unexpectedly the lowest in 1968 and 2018 with leisure expenses was at the maximum in 2018.

To compare, spending on food, fuel and power, clothing and footware and personal goods are the only spending that are more in 1968 where food are almost doubled up the usage of the weekly income that are up to 35%.

Leisure in 2018 on the other hand had increased drastically on the percentage of weekly income used. Due to the economy, people buy houses and transportation therefore, the money used on both sector rises in 2018 whereas the household goods stays the same in both of the years

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers the main features of the chart, such as the high expenditure on food in 1968 and the rise in leisure spending by 2018. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial. The student identifies some trends but fails to provide a comprehensive comparison of all categories. For instance, the statement that household goods 'stays the same' is inaccurate based on the data, and the explanation for the rise in housing and transport costs is speculative rather than data-driven. To improve, ensure that all data points are accurately interpreted and that the overview highlights the most significant shifts rather than listing individual items.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat mechanical and occasionally inaccurate. For example, the transition 'To compare' is used awkwardly to introduce a list of categories. Furthermore, the referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the phrase 'the money used on both sector', which lacks a clear antecedent. The progression of ideas is present but could be smoother; better use of linking words like 'whereas', 'in contrast', or 'consequently' would improve the flow between sentences and paragraphs.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. There are several spelling errors, such as 'footware' instead of 'footwear'. The student relies on basic phrasing like 'the money used' and 'doubled up the usage', which are not natural collocations in an academic context. While the student attempts to use terms like 'drastically' and 'percentage', the range is limited. To achieve a higher band, focus on using more precise academic vocabulary related to data description, such as 'expenditure', 'proportion', 'fluctuated', or 'remained stable'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Subject-verb agreement is a recurring issue, such as 'food expenses is the highest' and 'spending... are more'. Additionally, there are errors in article usage and pluralisation, such as 'the usage of the weekly income' and 'both sector'. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focusing on basic subject-verb agreement and consistent tense usage would significantly improve the quality of the writing.

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