Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-12

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 given horizontal graph illustrates the average weekly spending by families in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, it is evident that, the average weekly spending by families on food which was the highest ; however, the expenditure on fuel and power was the least in the given period of time.

To begin with, around 35 percentage of weekly income spent money on food in 1968, while a half families spend their money on food in 2018. moreover, 10 percent money spent by families on housing , but more than double nearly 20 percent spent money by families on housing in 2018.However, under 10 percent average weekly spending by families on fuel and power, clothing and footware , household goods, and personal goods in both years.

Probing further, around 8 percentage weekly spending by families on transport in 1968 , whereas , nearly 15 percent of weekly income spent by families on transport . Additionally , 10 percent of average weekly spending by families on leisure activities in 1968 and a double spent money on leisure in 2018 by families .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the data, such as the trends in food and housing expenditure. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial and contains inaccuracies. For instance, you state that 'a half families spend their money on food in 2018', which is a misinterpretation of the data (the chart shows a decrease, not an increase to 50%). Additionally, the report lacks a clear summary of the most significant changes, such as the dramatic shift from food to leisure. While you identify the highest and lowest categories, the lack of precision in reporting the figures hinders the overall clarity of the task achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or inaccurate. Phrases like 'To begin with' and 'Probing further' are used, but the transitions between sentences are sometimes abrupt. There are also issues with punctuation, such as unnecessary spaces before commas and semicolons, which disrupts the flow. The referencing is occasionally unclear, making it difficult to track which year or category is being discussed in certain sentences.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks the precision required for a higher band. You rely on repetitive phrasing, such as 'average weekly spending by families' and 'spent money on'. There are also errors in word choice and spelling, such as 'footware' instead of 'footwear' and 'percentage' used where 'percent' is required. To improve, you should aim to use a wider variety of verbs (e.g., 'allocated', 'accounted for', 'declined') and avoid repeating the same noun phrases throughout the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede readability. Issues include incorrect preposition usage ('35 percentage of weekly income spent money on'), subject-verb agreement errors, and awkward sentence construction ('a double spent money on leisure'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the placement of commas and the use of semicolons. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band.

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.