Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-22

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 weekly expenditure of families in 1968 and 2018 in one country is depicted through a bar graph.

Overall, earlier most of the weekly income was spent on food whereas, in 2018 housing and leisure followed by food accounted for majority of the spending.

In 1968, almost 35% of weekly income was spent on food which was reduced to an average of 17% by 2018. Clothing, footwear along with personal goods and fuel and power accounted for an average of 5-10% of the weekly income. All the three showed a decreasing trend in 2018 accounting for only 4-5% of the spending. However, the household goods maintained an expenditure of 8% in both the timelines.

In 2018, housing and leisure comes out to be the most common expense at 18 and 22% respectively. However, in 1968 only 8-10% of the weekly income was spent on them. Similarly, 13% was spent on transport in 2018 comparing to a 8% in 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response provides a clear overview of the main trends, identifying the shift from food-dominated spending to housing and leisure. You have successfully selected key features and made relevant comparisons between the two years. However, there are some inaccuracies in the data reporting. For instance, you state that 13% was spent on transport in 2018 compared to 8% in 2018, which is a confusing typo. Additionally, the grouping of categories like 'clothing, footwear, personal goods, fuel and power' is slightly imprecise, as these are distinct categories on the chart. To improve, ensure that data points are transcribed accurately and that comparisons are clearly linked to the specific years provided in the prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. The progression of ideas is generally clear, and you use some cohesive devices such as 'however', 'similarly', and 'whereas' to link your points. However, the cohesion is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions feel slightly abrupt. For example, the final sentence of the second paragraph regarding household goods is a bit isolated. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensure that the relationship between sentences is more fluid and natural throughout the entire response.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'expenditure', 'accounted for', and 'depicted'. You attempt to use less common vocabulary, but there are some minor inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'in both the timelines' (a better phrase would be 'in both years' or 'across both periods'). The vocabulary is sufficient to convey your meaning clearly, but it lacks the precision and flexibility required for a higher band. To improve, try to incorporate more varied synonyms for 'spending' and 'decreased' to avoid repetition and enhance the sophistication of your writing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. There are some grammatical errors, such as 'earlier most of the weekly income was spent' (which lacks a clear subject or time reference) and 'comparing to a 8% in 2018' (which should be 'compared to 8% in 1968'). While these errors do not impede communication, they are noticeable. To achieve a higher score, focus on ensuring subject-verb agreement and refining your use of prepositions. Additionally, try to incorporate more complex sentence forms, such as relative clauses or participial phrases, to demonstrate greater grammatical control.

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

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