Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The horizontal bar chart illustrates the proportion of average weekly income spent by families in a country in 1968 and 2018, it includes different utilities where families are interested in spending their income.

Overall, food strengthened its position by recording highest share of weekly income spent in 2018, leisure accounted for highest proportion in 1968. In contrast, Fuel and Power observed to be the least prioritized utility where families are interested in spending their weekly income, both in 2018 and 1968.

In 1968, Food strengthened its position by recording highest share of income spent by family with 35%. Housing and Clothing and footware among the second most prioritized utility, equally sharing 10% each. Leisure was recorded to be the following priority accounted for around 9% of weekly income. Interestingly, three utilities including Housing goods, Personal goods and Transport were equally sharing 8% each from the weekly income of families. Fuel and power recorded the lowest proportion of spending weekly income by 6%.

In 2018, Leisure escalated its proportion as the highest with 22%, followed by Housing that experienced a significant incline in its share by 19%. Food observed a gradual decrease in its value which recorded 17% of weekly income is spent by the families. Transport was next that experienced a substantial growth to 14%, followed by Household goods with 8%, it remains constant as recorded in 1968. Clothing and footware is next which observed a soft decline accounted for exactly 5%. The remaining two utilities including Personal goods and Fuel and Power ended up being the least preferable with below 5% of weekly amount spending by families.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have successfully identified the main features and provided a clear overview. However, there are significant factual inaccuracies in your reporting. For instance, you state that 'Leisure escalated its proportion as the highest with 22%' in 2018, whereas the chart shows 'Housing' as the highest at 22% and 'Leisure' at 17%. Additionally, you claim 'Food' was the highest in 1968 at 35%, but the chart indicates 'Food' was 44%. These errors in data interpretation prevent a higher band score. Ensure you double-check the labels and corresponding values against the visual data to maintain accuracy.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized into paragraphs, with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. You use cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'Interestingly', and 'followed by' to link ideas. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the referencing is occasionally unclear, such as in the second paragraph where the comparison between 1968 and 2018 is slightly confusing. The overall progression is generally clear, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words to avoid repetitive sentence structures.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'proportion', 'prioritized', 'escalated', and 'substantial growth'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'strengthened its position' (which is slightly unnatural in this context) and 'soft decline'. There are also minor spelling errors like 'footware' (should be 'footwear'). To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise academic collocations and ensure spelling is accurate throughout the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and article usage (e.g., 'recording highest share' instead of 'recording the highest share'). Some sentences are slightly awkward, such as 'Fuel and Power observed to be the least prioritized utility'. While these errors do not significantly impede communication, they occur frequently enough to limit the score. Focus on proofreading for articles and ensuring that passive voice constructions are formed correctly.

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

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