Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · 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 4.0)

In this graph shows the comparison between 1968 to 2018 about food, fuel, housing, clothing, household goods, transport, and leisure.it shows the income of food id very high in 1968 which is very useful for the country economy and less income shows in 2018.The reason of low income is due to some country crisis like flood which destroy the food.

and then on second the housing income is low in 1968 it might be the reason of some property prices are high people wont sale the house in 1968.But it high in 2018.

and then we come to fuel and power income its show in botn 1968 amd 2018 has low income the main reason might b have high prices then they cant afford that much prices thats why they dont use fuel and power that much.

the clothing anfd footware have high income in 1968 people buy more clothes and in 2018 people buy less.and house hold goods thing are the people buy equal in both years.

personal goods are the more income in 1968 and less in 2018. in 1968 people use more transport and less use in 2018 the main reason might have hgh uel prices people cant afford the fuel.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to accurately report the data provided in the chart. Instead of describing the trends in weekly spending, the writer introduces external, speculative information about 'country crisis' and 'flood,' which is not present in the source material. The task requires an objective summary of the provided figures, not an analysis of causes. Furthermore, the description of the data is inconsistent and often inaccurate (e.g., claiming household goods were 'equal' when the chart shows a clear change). The response lacks a clear overview of the main trends, which is essential for a high score in Task 1.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The essay lacks a logical structure. It is written as a single block of text with poor paragraphing, making it difficult to follow. Cohesive devices are either missing or used incorrectly, such as the repetitive use of 'and then' to start sentences. There is no clear progression of ideas, and the referencing is confusing, as the writer frequently jumps between categories without a clear organizational strategy. The lack of a proper introduction and a summary overview further hinders the coherence of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.0

The vocabulary is very limited and repetitive. The writer consistently uses the word 'income' to refer to 'spending' or 'expenditure,' which is a significant error in terminology. Other phrases are basic or misused, such as 'household goods thing' and 'country economy.' There are also numerous spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'botn,' 'amd,' 'hgh,' and 'uel.' The range of vocabulary is insufficient to convey the information accurately or to demonstrate any flexibility in language use.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The grammatical control is weak, with frequent errors that often impede communication. There are significant issues with sentence structure, including run-on sentences and fragments. Subject-verb agreement is frequently incorrect, such as 'it shows the income... is very high' and 'people wont sale.' Punctuation is largely ignored, with missing capital letters at the start of sentences and incorrect spacing. The range of structures is very limited, consisting mostly of simple, error-prone sentences. The frequent errors in basic grammar make the text difficult to read.

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.