Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-08-31

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 provided chart compares the essential outgoings of several families per week in 1967 and in 2018.

Initially, most of the income was spent on nutrition and diet, whereas housing accounted for a larger portion than what was required in the late twentieth century. Household goods remained plateaued, while citizen began to use transport more often.

Furthermore, nutrition represented 35% of the weekly income spent by the individuals. However, it experienced a decline of roughly 23% by 2018. In 1968, citizen were likely to use 10% of their earnings on the purchasing of clothes and footwear. Moreover, a gap of nearly 15% emerged in leisure activity expenditures between the two years. People began to spend more of their income on fuel rather than wasting them on personal goods. In comparison, around 18% of weekly expenses were spent on housing, whereas the proportion was just 10% by 1968.

To conclude, people used to spent most of their weekly income on housing and leisure activities in 1968. However, food accounted for the highest number of amount spent on by 2018 with clothing being the second on the list.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response covers the main features of the chart, but there are significant inaccuracies in the data reporting. For instance, you state that food accounted for the highest amount spent by 2018, which contradicts the chart where housing is clearly higher. Additionally, you mention that housing was 10% in 1968, but the chart shows it was significantly higher (around 10% is actually the 2018 figure for other categories). The summary of trends is present, but the misinterpretation of the data points prevents a higher score. To improve, ensure you carefully cross-reference the labels and values on the axes before writing.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'Furthermore', 'However', and 'In comparison'. However, the flow is occasionally disrupted by inaccurate data reporting, which makes the logical progression difficult to follow. The use of referencing is sometimes unclear, such as in the final paragraph where the summary contradicts the earlier body paragraphs. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, body, and conclusion, which helps the reader navigate the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'outgoings', 'expenditures', and 'proportion'. However, there are some awkward collocations and word choice errors, such as 'remained plateaued' (which is redundant) and 'highest number of amount spent'. There is also a minor error in the pluralisation of 'citizen' (should be 'citizens'). While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general meaning, it lacks the precision and flexibility required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Examples include subject-verb agreement issues ('citizen were', 'people used to spent') and incorrect prepositional usage ('amount spent on by'). While the meaning is generally understandable, these recurring errors in basic grammar and verb tense consistency prevent the writing from reaching a higher level of accuracy. Focusing on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and consistent tense usage would be highly beneficial.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.