Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-09

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 5.0)

In this essay we are going to discuss on the topic of How family spend their income in 1967 and in 2018. So we have to summaries the information from the passage.

So we have total 8 components to discuss which are Food , Housing , Fuel and Power , Clothing and Footwear , Personal goods , Transport and Leisure. .

Lets talk in 1968 time Food the largest spending from till now which is 35% of weekly income. Housing is 10% of weekly income. The least spending from ancient time is Fuel and Power which is 7% only. Next is clothing and footwear which is also 10% of income. household goods which is 8%, Then personal goods which is also 8%, then we have transport which is also the 8% of weekly income. and the last is leisure which is 9% of income. so this is the % of people spending weekly income of people from 1968.

and now its about 2018 so the food is only 22% , housing is 19% , fuel and power is 3 % , clothing and footwear is 5% , then household goods is 15% , personal goods is 3% , transport is 13% and the last leisure is 23 % of weekly income. so this the the ratio of people spending money on expenses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers the main features of the data, but it lacks a clear overview or summary of the trends. The structure is essentially a list of figures rather than an analytical report. While the data points are generally accurate, the response fails to make meaningful comparisons between the two years, which is a key requirement of the task. The introduction is informal and includes unnecessary meta-commentary ('In this essay we are going to discuss...'), which is not appropriate for an Academic Task 1 response. To improve, focus on grouping data logically and highlighting significant changes, such as the shift in spending from food to leisure.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is organized into three paragraphs, but the progression of ideas is mechanical and repetitive. Each sentence follows a similar structure ('Food is X%', 'Housing is Y%'), which makes the text feel like a list rather than a cohesive report. There is a lack of cohesive devices to link ideas or show contrast between the two time periods. The use of informal phrases like 'Lets talk in 1968 time' disrupts the academic tone. Paragraphing is present, but the internal flow within paragraphs is weak due to the lack of varied transition words or logical sequencing.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is quite limited and repetitive, relying heavily on basic terms like 'spending', 'income', and 'is'. There is little attempt to use a range of vocabulary to describe trends or data, such as 'accounted for', 'witnessed a decline', or 'remained stable'. The phrasing is often unnatural, such as 'spending from ancient time' or 'this is the % of people spending'. While the meaning is generally clear, the lack of variety and the informal tone prevent the response from reaching a higher band. Expanding your repertoire of reporting verbs and nouns would significantly improve the quality of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response relies almost exclusively on simple sentence structures. There are frequent grammatical errors, including issues with subject-verb agreement ('How family spend'), missing articles, and incorrect punctuation. The use of 'and' to connect clauses is repetitive, and there is a lack of complex sentence structures. While the errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to be distracting. To improve, you should practice using a wider variety of sentence types, including subordinate clauses and passive voice, and pay closer attention to basic grammatical rules like pluralization and verb tense consistency.

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