Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-21

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 6.0)

The bar chart depicts data about how families in a particular nation spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.

Overall, in 1968 households prioritized spending their money on food while in 2018 personal goods and fuel and power accounted for the least items families spent on. In both 1968 and 2018 people spent the same amount of funds on household goods.

In 1968, food was the families' priority accounting for the highest item spent on at 35% followed by housing clothing and clothing and footware at 10% and leisure about 9% while fuel and power was the lowest at around 6%. Transport, personal goods, household goods were almost similar on expenditure at around 8%.

In 2018, leisure, housing and food was the items households spent on the most at around 22%,19% and 17% respectively. Expenditure on personal goods, fuel and power were almost the same at around 4% whereas transport, household goods and clothing and footware were moderate at around 14%,8% and 5% in that order.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers the main features of the chart and makes relevant comparisons between the two years. You successfully identified the shift in spending priorities, such as the decline in food expenditure and the rise in leisure. However, there are some inaccuracies in the data reporting. For instance, you stated that 'household goods' remained the same, but the chart shows a slight decrease. Additionally, the description of 2018 spending is slightly confusing due to the grouping of categories. To improve, ensure that data points are cited with greater precision and avoid grouping unrelated items, which can lead to misinterpretation of the trends.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs focusing on the specific years. The use of cohesive devices like 'Overall', 'In 1968', and 'In 2018' helps the reader follow the progression of ideas. However, the flow within the body paragraphs is occasionally hindered by repetitive sentence structures and some awkward phrasing, such as 'the highest item spent on'. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring smoother transitions between sentences would elevate the coherence of your writing.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'expenditure', 'prioritized', and 'accounted for'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and spelling, such as 'footware' (footwear) and the repetitive use of 'item' to refer to spending categories. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise synonyms for 'spending' and 'amount' to avoid repetition. Additionally, ensure that you are using collocations correctly; for example, instead of 'highest item spent on', you could use 'the category with the highest expenditure'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are several grammatical errors, particularly with subject-verb agreement and punctuation. For example, 'leisure, housing and food was the items' should be 'were the items'. There are also issues with comma usage and missing articles. While these errors do not significantly impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on proofreading for basic agreement and ensuring consistent verb tense usage will help improve your accuracy.

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

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