Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-04

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 5.5)

The bar chart illustrates the percentages of income spent on eight different resources by families in a country per week in 1968 and 2018. Overall, the highest percentage of income was spent in 1968 except transportation and leisure activities on which highly spent in 2018. The significant amount spent on food followed by leisure activities. The lowest percentage spent on fuel and power, clothing and software, and personal good. Household activities is the only one on which equal amount was spent in both years.

In detail, the highest percentage of money was spent on food at 35% in 1968 higher than nearly 17% in 2018. This was followed by leisure activities on which about 23% was spent in 2018 higher than nearly 9% in 1968. Transport and housing spending ranked third at about 14% and 19% were spent in 2018 respectively and nearly 8% and 10% spent in 1968 respectively. Money spent on transport was higher in 2018 compared with housing on which more spent in 1968. the

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response provides a clear overview and selects key features, such as the significant decline in food spending and the rise in leisure activities. However, the analysis is somewhat inconsistent. For instance, the statement that 'the highest percentage of income was spent in 1968 except transportation and leisure' is confusingly phrased. Additionally, the report is incomplete; it stops abruptly at the end of the second paragraph ('the'), failing to cover all categories or provide a full conclusion. While the main trends are identified, the lack of a complete summary and the omission of some data points limit the score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into two paragraphs, which is appropriate for a short report. There is an attempt to use cohesive devices like 'In detail' and 'This was followed by', but the flow is often disrupted by awkward phrasing and grammatical errors. The progression of ideas is logical at the sentence level, but the abrupt ending significantly impacts the overall coherence of the piece. Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as in the opening paragraph where the comparison between years is muddled. More varied linking words would improve the flow.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, allowing the reader to understand the main trends. You use terms like 'illustrates', 'percentages', and 'ranked' correctly. However, there are instances of imprecise word choice, such as 'resources' instead of 'categories' or 'expenditure items', and 'personal good' instead of 'personal goods'. The range is somewhat limited, and the repetition of 'spent' throughout the text indicates a need for more synonyms to describe financial data, such as 'allocated', 'expended', or 'devoted to'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex structures, but accuracy is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in subject-verb agreement and preposition usage, such as 'on which highly spent in 2018' and 'more spent in 1968'. The sentence structure is often clunky, which occasionally impedes clarity. Punctuation is generally functional, but the incomplete final sentence is a major grammatical failure. To improve, focus on ensuring that every sentence has a clear subject and verb, and practice using passive voice constructions more accurately when describing data.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.