Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-02

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 7.0)

The chart compares the weekly wage expenditure of one family in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, the money was most spent on food in 1968 whereas this decreased to almost half in 2018. Leisure became the most spent category in 2018.

In 1968, food was the most spent area contributing to 35% of total income. 10% income contributed for both housing and clothing and footwear. Other categories household and personal goods, transport spending was less than 10% around 7%. Leisure was slightly more than these almost 9% of all expenses. Fuel and power were least of all less than 6%.

The major shift seen in 2018 was expenditure on food become less to half almost 17% whereas the leisure expenses increased to double now having 22% of entire expense. Transport cost was increased to 14% . Household figure remains same but there was a decline of 50% in clothing and foot ware only 5% share goes to it. Another major increase was on the expense on housing which almost doubled to 19%. Fuel and power had slight change both this and personal goods now stands at 4%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have successfully identified the main trends and provided a clear overview of the data. You highlighted the significant shift in spending from food to leisure and noted the changes in housing and clothing. However, the report could be improved by grouping the data more effectively rather than listing figures for each category. For instance, you could group categories that increased, decreased, or remained stable. Additionally, some data points are slightly imprecise, such as describing 17% as 'almost half' of 35%, which is mathematically inaccurate. Overall, you covered all key features well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.0

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'whereas' and 'another major increase', to link ideas. However, the flow between sentences is sometimes mechanical, and the paragraphing could be more balanced. The transition between the 1968 data and the 2018 data is clear, but the internal structure of the paragraphs relies heavily on listing statistics rather than synthesizing the information. Improving the use of referencing and varied linking words would enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'expenditure', 'contributing', and 'decline'. There are some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'most spent area' instead of 'highest expenditure category' and 'foot ware' (spelling error). While you successfully convey the meaning, the vocabulary is somewhat repetitive. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise academic collocations and ensure accurate spelling of key terms related to the chart categories.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical slips, such as 'expenditure on food become less' (should be 'became') and 'fuel and power had slight change both this and personal goods now stands at 4%' (which is a run-on sentence with subject-verb agreement issues). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on consistent verb tense usage and clearer sentence boundaries will help improve your accuracy.

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