Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-28

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 bar graph presents how the households utilize their weekly wages in a single country in 1968 and in 2018.

Overall, spending the weekly income on food ranked as the champion and then followed by housing in 1968. While fuel and power placed at the bottom of the graph.

Whereas, in 2018, leisure topped the table with approximately 22% of the weekly income. Then housing was followed after leisure with almost 20%. Nevertheless, household goods remained unchanged with nearly 10% since 1968 to 2018.

While, weekly expenditure on transportation increased in 2018 compared 1968 contributing roughly 15% in 2018. But however, clothing and footwear expenditure declined drastically in 2018 compared to 1968.

We can even find spending on personal goods even got reduced in 2018 on comparing with 1968.

Utilizing the weekly earnings on fuel and power, had also decreased in 2018. Including spending weekly earnings on food had seen a dramatic reduction in 2018 to almost 15%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the chart, identifying key trends such as the shift in spending from food to leisure. However, the report lacks a clear, analytical overview. The description of the data is somewhat fragmented, and the comparison between 1968 and 2018 is inconsistent. For instance, while you mention the increase in transportation and the decrease in food, the lack of a cohesive summary of the overall shifts makes it difficult to follow the data trends. To improve, ensure you group related categories together and provide a more structured comparison of the two years.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into paragraphs, but the logical flow between sentences is often weak. The use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or misused, such as starting sentences with 'But however' or 'Whereas' in a way that does not connect to the previous thought. The referencing is also occasionally unclear, making the progression of ideas feel disjointed. To improve, focus on using transition words more naturally and ensure that each paragraph has a clear thematic focus rather than listing data points in isolation.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks precision and variety. Phrases like 'ranked as the champion' and 'topped the table' are slightly informal or imprecise for an academic report. There is also some repetition of basic structures and vocabulary. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more precise academic terminology, such as 'expenditure,' 'accounted for,' 'constituted,' or 'fluctuated,' and avoid informal phrasing when describing statistical data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors. Issues include incorrect preposition usage ('compared 1968'), awkward phrasing ('housing was followed after leisure'), and punctuation errors. Some sentences are grammatically incomplete or poorly constructed, which occasionally hinders the reader's understanding. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement and the correct use of comparative structures. Proofreading for basic sentence construction will help reduce the frequency of these errors.

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

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