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)

People in 1968 were spending almost double of what people spend in 2018. This is something amazing. The reason behind this can be seend if we compare other categories like housing. In housing now people spend more and its reason is I think inflation we see in housing and properties. People spend more in leisure and transport as compared to old days. Surprisingly household numbers are same. Decrement in clothing seen to be for the reason of more options in dresses and footware I think. Overall this whole chart show how lifestyle, expenses and priorities change with the passage of time. In 1968 it seems like people have small amounts of options available for entertainment and enjoy so they mostly spend their earnings on food . As we see sharp inflation in power divisons so thats why transport expenses seems like incremented. People are cutting down their personal expenses to meet other expenses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to adequately address the task requirements. While it identifies some trends, it lacks a clear overview and fails to report specific data points from the chart, which is essential for an Academic Task 1 response. The analysis is highly subjective, using phrases like 'I think' and 'This is something amazing,' which are inappropriate for an objective report. Furthermore, the interpretation of the data is inaccurate; for instance, stating that people in 1968 spent double what they spend in 2018 is not supported by the provided chart. The response lacks the necessary precision and formal tone required for this task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response lacks a clear logical structure. It is written as a single paragraph, which makes it difficult to follow the progression of ideas. There is a lack of cohesive devices to link sentences and ideas effectively. The transition between points is abrupt, and the lack of paragraphing hinders the overall readability. The response does not follow the standard format of an introduction, overview, and body paragraphs, which is expected for this type of task. The referencing is often unclear, making it difficult for the reader to follow the writer's train of thought.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is limited and often imprecise. The writer relies on informal and repetitive language, such as 'amazing,' 'old days,' and 'dresses and footware.' There is a lack of academic vocabulary related to data description, such as 'fluctuated,' 'remained stable,' or 'accounted for.' The word choice is often awkward, for example, 'power divisons' and 'decrement in clothing.' The range of vocabulary is insufficient to convey the information accurately or professionally. To improve, the student should focus on learning topic-specific vocabulary related to charts and trends.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede communication. There are issues with subject-verb agreement, such as 'this whole chart show' and 'transport expenses seems like incremented.' The sentence structures are mostly simple, and there is a lack of complex sentence forms. Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing spaces after commas and periods. The use of 'its reason is I think' is grammatically incorrect and informal. The student needs to focus on basic sentence construction and proofreading to eliminate these frequent errors.

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