Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 chart shows how much of their weekly income people spent on eight different things in 1968 and 2018.Overall, food was the highest amongst the other and personal goods were the least.

On the one hand, the way people spent their money changed a lot between these two years. The biggest change was in food. In 1968, people spent about 35% of their weekly income on food, but this went down to only 18% in 2018. Clothing and footwear also became cheaper for people, falling from about 10% to 5%. People also spent less on fuel and power and personal goods, both of which went down from around 7–8% to about 4%. Only household goods stayed the same, at around 7–8%.

On the other hand, some spending became much higher. Leisure was the biggest change, going up from about 9% to 22%. Housing also rose a lot, from around 8% to 18%, and transport went up from about 8% to 14%. In short, people in 2018 spent much less on food but much more on leisure, housing, and transport. This shows that people had more money to spend on fun and lifestyle things compared to 1968.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response effectively addresses all parts of the task. You have successfully identified the main trends and made relevant comparisons between 1968 and 2018. The overview is clear, and the data is used to support the main features described. You correctly highlighted the significant shifts in food and leisure spending. To reach a higher band, ensure that all data points are precise; for example, stating 'around 7-8%' is acceptable, but being more specific where the chart allows (e.g., 7% or 8%) would demonstrate better attention to detail. Overall, the response is well-focused and meets the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized with a clear progression of ideas. You have used paragraphing effectively to separate the overview, the decreases, and the increases. Cohesive devices such as 'On the one hand', 'On the other hand', and 'In short' are used appropriately to guide the reader. However, the transition between sentences could be slightly more varied to improve the flow. The referencing is generally clear, and the information is presented in a way that is easy to follow throughout the report.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You have used an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'weekly income', 'significant change', and 'lifestyle'. The language is generally precise and appropriate for an academic report. There are some minor issues with word choice, such as 'fun and lifestyle things', which is slightly informal for an academic context. To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations related to data description, such as 'experienced a substantial decline' or 'witnessed a marked increase', rather than relying on simpler verbs like 'went down' or 'went up'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

The response demonstrates a good mix of simple and complex sentence structures. Most sentences are error-free, and your control of grammar is generally strong. There are occasional minor inaccuracies, such as 'food was the highest amongst the other', which should be 'highest among the categories'. Punctuation is generally accurate, and the meaning is always clear. To achieve a higher band, aim to incorporate a wider variety of complex structures, such as passive voice or participle clauses, to describe the data trends more dynamically.

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

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