Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-29

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 graph illustrates families weekly income spending on seven category in one country in1968 and 2018. Overall, while spending on food was the highest in 1968, spending on leisure activities and housing accouted for the largest proportion in 2018, with household goods remained unchanged in both years.

Weekly spending on food made up the largest percentage in 1968, at 35%, while it share expereienced a significant decline to about 17% by 2018. A similar trend was observed in clothing and footware and spending on personal goods, spending on clothing and footware dropped from 10% to 5%, while the personal goods reamined below 10% in both years. Families spent on fuel and power were the least in both period ar around 5%.

Expenditure on housing and leisure recorded the highest growth. In 1968, housing made up a tenth of the total, at 10%, and leisure accounted for approximately 9%, but by 2018 a sharp increase were observed in both groups, reaching about 18% and 22% respectively. Finally, spending on transport also rose from about 7% to 14%, while people allocated same amout of money for household goods at around 8%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all key features of the data, including the significant shifts in spending patterns between 1968 and 2018. You successfully identified the major trends, such as the decline in food expenditure and the rise in housing and leisure costs. The overview is clear and highlights the most important changes. However, there are minor inaccuracies in data reporting; for instance, you mentioned household goods remained unchanged, but the chart shows a slight decrease from 1968 to 2018. Additionally, the statement about fuel and power being the least in both periods is slightly inaccurate as other categories were lower in 1968. Despite these minor slips, the main features are well-selected and reported.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a summary. Each paragraph has a distinct focus, which helps the reader follow the progression of information. You use cohesive devices such as 'while', 'similarly', and 'in addition' to link ideas. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and there are occasional issues with referencing, such as 'it share' (should be 'its share') and 'the personal goods' (where 'the' is unnecessary). Paragraphing is used effectively to separate the different trends, contributing to a coherent overall structure.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information clearly, using terms like 'expenditure', 'proportion', 'significant decline', and 'allocated'. There are some spelling errors, such as 'accouted' (accounted), 'footware' (footwear), and 'expereienced' (experienced). Additionally, there are minor word choice issues, such as 'families weekly income spending' (should be 'families' weekly spending') and 'same amout' (amount). While these errors are noticeable, they do not impede communication. To reach a higher band, focus on more precise collocations and ensure spelling accuracy for common academic terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. You successfully use comparative structures to contrast the two years. However, there are several grammatical errors, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'a sharp increase were observed' (should be 'was observed') and 'families spent on fuel and power were the least' (should be 'spending on fuel and power was the lowest'). There are also minor punctuation and article errors throughout. While these errors are frequent, they do not prevent the reader from understanding the data. Increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences will help improve this score.

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