Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)
The bar chart illustrates the percentage of weekly expenditures of families in a particular nation between the 1968 to 2018 time frame.
Overall, money spent weekly for food had the higest fraction in 1968.In contrast, it was at the bottom position for fuel and power.Cash spent on leisure had the grossing numbers in 2018 while personal goods came in last.
In 1968, spendings on groceries was at the peak while occupying 35% of weekly income.Exactly 10% was accumulated for lodging for fashionwear respectively while resource, personal goods and household goods,transport and leisure all fell below the 10% mark.
In 2018, weekly money spent of housing used most of the savings taking up more then 18% of the fraction followed by food. Money spent on fuel and power came in last not using more than 5% of weekly income while the rest also didnt exceed the 10% mark with household goods being the most notable from the bunch sitting around the 8% mark.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response covers the main features of the chart, identifying key trends in 1968 and 2018. However, the analysis is somewhat superficial and contains inaccuracies. For instance, you state that 'leisure' had the highest spending in 2018, whereas the chart indicates 'housing' was the highest. Additionally, the description of 1968 mentions 'fashionwear' and 'resource', which are not clearly defined categories on the chart, leading to confusion. While you attempt to compare the two years, the lack of precision in reporting the data points hinders the overall task achievement. To improve, ensure you accurately transcribe data and focus on the most significant changes rather than listing every category.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use some cohesive devices, such as 'Overall', 'In contrast', and 'In 1968', to transition between ideas. However, the flow is occasionally interrupted by awkward phrasing and mechanical transitions. For example, the sentence 'Money spent on fuel and power came in last not using more than 5% of weekly income while the rest also didnt exceed the 10% mark' is a run-on that lacks clear punctuation. Improving the variety of linking words and ensuring each paragraph has a clear topic sentence would enhance the overall coherence.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'expenditures', 'fraction', and 'accumulated'. However, there are several instances of imprecise word choice and unnatural collocations, such as 'grossing numbers' and 'at the bottom position'. Additionally, there are minor spelling errors like 'higest'. To reach a higher band, focus on using more precise academic vocabulary and ensuring that your word choices accurately reflect the data being described. Avoid informal phrasing like 'from the bunch' to maintain a formal tone suitable for an Academic Task 1 report.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues ('spendings... was', 'money spent... used') and punctuation errors, such as missing spaces after periods. You also struggle with prepositions and articles, for example, 'more then 18%' should be 'more than 18%'. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to lower the score. Focusing on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and sentence boundary punctuation would significantly improve your performance.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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