Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-23

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)

The given chart show the information about how families in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.

It is clearly seen from the given graph is people change their thinking and mental ability because in 1968 people should spend their few money on housing, transport ,leisure and a part of money spent on food,fuel and power,clothing and footwear,personal goods. now-a-days people should spend a part of their money on housing, transport and leisure.

Always people know their first priority and then they spent money on them but according to revolution in science and culture then people change their first priority.who will know the necessity of them who will spent their money on availability. people always maintain spent money on personal goods because they know personal goods is the necessity of people.

overall, people change their necessity according to culture and re solution. so that is good.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.0

The response fails to adequately address the task. Instead of reporting and comparing the data provided in the chart, the essay focuses on subjective, speculative commentary about 'people's thinking' and 'mental ability'. There is no systematic reporting of the figures, trends, or significant changes in spending categories between 1968 and 2018. The prompt requires an objective summary of the data, but the student provides a philosophical discussion that is largely irrelevant to the task. Consequently, the main features are not identified, and the response does not meet the requirements for an Academic Task 1 report.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay is divided into short paragraphs, but the logical progression is weak. The ideas do not flow logically from one to the next, and the transition between the introduction and the body paragraphs is disjointed. Cohesive devices are either missing or used incorrectly, such as the repetitive use of 'people' and 'money'. The referencing is unclear, and the overall structure lacks the necessary cohesion to guide the reader through a data analysis. The final paragraph is a brief, vague summary that does not effectively synthesize the information.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is very limited and repetitive. The student relies on basic terms like 'money', 'people', and 'spent' throughout the text. There is no attempt to use topic-specific vocabulary related to data analysis, such as 'expenditure', 'proportion', 'fluctuation', or 'significant increase'. The phrasing is often unnatural, such as 'according to revolution in science and culture' and 're solution', which indicates a lack of control over word choice and spelling. The range is insufficient to convey the information accurately.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains frequent grammatical errors that impede communication. There are issues with subject-verb agreement ('The given chart show'), article usage, and sentence structure. Many sentences are poorly constructed, such as 'It is clearly seen from the given graph is people change their thinking', which is grammatically incorrect. There is a lack of complex sentence structures, and the punctuation is inconsistent. The errors are pervasive and often make the intended meaning difficult to follow, which is characteristic of the lower band levels.

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

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