Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-01

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)

The bar chart compares the percentages of weekly household income spent on eight categories in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, the expenditure of food, clothing and personal goods considerably declined. On the other hand spending on housing, transport and leisure activities significantly increased. However, the expenses on household goods remained relatively stable.

Weekly spending on food reduced from 35% in 1968 to 17% in 2018. Similarly, spending on clothing and footwear halved and declined from 10% to 5% in 1968 and 2018 respectively. The weekly spending on personal goods also halved over the period and fell to 4% in 2018 from 8% in 1968.

By contrast, weekly spending on leisure activities rose from 8% in 1968 to 22% in 2018. The spending on transport also climbed from 8% in 1968 to 14% in 2018. In addition, spending on housing also increased dramat

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers the main features of the chart and makes relevant comparisons. However, the task is incomplete as the final sentence is cut off mid-word ('dramat'), and the response fails to meet the 150-word minimum requirement. Because the writing ends abruptly, the final category (housing) is not fully reported, which negatively impacts the overall coverage of the data. To improve, ensure you complete all sentences and provide a full summary of all categories presented in the chart to meet the length requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'Similarly', 'By contrast', and 'In addition' are used effectively to guide the reader through the comparisons. Paragraphing is appropriate, and the progression of ideas is clear. The main issue is the incomplete ending, which disrupts the flow of the final paragraph. If the text had been completed, the coherence would be stronger.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

The range of vocabulary is adequate for the task. You used appropriate reporting verbs and phrases such as 'considerably declined', 'significantly increased', and 'remained relatively stable'. There is a good attempt to use varied terminology to describe trends. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise collocations or less common synonyms to describe the magnitude of change, such as 'a marginal shift' or 'a substantial surge'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most sentences are grammatically accurate, and punctuation is generally handled well. There are no major errors that impede communication. However, the incomplete sentence at the end is a significant grammatical failure. To improve, focus on proofreading to ensure all sentences are finished and that you maintain a consistent tense when describing historical data.

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