Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-15

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 bar graph illustrates the average weekly expenditure of families in one country in two different years.

Overall, food accounted for the largest proportion of the income in 1968 while the most amount was spent on leisure in 2018. Conversely, fuel and power made up the lowest proportion besides personal goods which had similar result in 2018.

In detail, families spent 35% of their weekly income on food. It was followed by housing, as well as clothing and footwear which were considerably lower than food, at 10%. Other expenses included household goods, personal goods, transport and leisure each of them making up less than 10% of the overall expenses.

In 2018, Leisure reported the largest percentage in the chart, at approximately 22%. The second largest expenditure was housing, at over 19%, followed by food, at about 17%. Fuel and power, clothing and footwear, personal goods and transport had a significantly less proportion, at about 6%, 5%, 4% and 14% respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

You have successfully identified the main features of the chart and provided a clear overview. You included data from both years and made relevant comparisons, such as noting the shift in spending priorities from food to leisure. However, the report could be improved by grouping the data more effectively. For instance, you listed several categories in 1968 without clearly contrasting them with their 2018 counterparts. Additionally, ensure that all data points are accurate; for example, you mentioned 'personal goods' had a similar result in 2018, but the chart shows a distinct change. Overall, you have covered the requirements well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized, with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. You use cohesive devices such as 'Conversely', 'In detail', and 'The second largest' to guide the reader through the data. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two time periods. To reach a higher band, ensure that the transition between sentences is smoother and avoid repetitive sentence structures. For example, the list of categories in the final paragraph could be integrated more fluidly rather than just stating percentages one after another. Overall, the progression of ideas is clear and easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information clearly. Phrases like 'accounted for the largest proportion' and 'expenditure' are appropriate for an academic report. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice, such as 'most amount' (which should be 'highest proportion' or 'largest share') and 'significantly less proportion' (which should be 'significantly smaller proportion'). To improve, try to incorporate more precise collocations and avoid repeating the same structures when describing data. The vocabulary is adequate for the task, but lacks the sophistication required for higher bands.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. Most of your sentences are error-free and easy to understand. There are a few minor grammatical slips, such as 'each of them making up' (which would be better as 'each making up') and 'had similar result' (which requires an article: 'a similar result'). Punctuation is generally accurate. To achieve a higher score, try to vary your sentence structure further by using more complex subordinate clauses or passive voice constructions to describe the data trends.

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

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