Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · 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 7.5)

The bar chart compares how families in one country spent their weekly income on eight different items in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, families spent the largest amount of money on food in 1968, while leisure was the biggest expense in 2018. Spending on food fell gradually, whereas housing, transport and leisure became more important.

In 1968, about 35% of weekly income was spent on food. This was much higher than housing, clothing and footwear, which were both around 105. Fuel and power accounted for about 6%, while household goods, personal goods and transport were each close to 8%. Leisure made up approximately 9% of income.

In 2018, food spending decreased to around 17%, although it was still a major expense. Housing increased about 19%, becoming the highest category. Leisure also rose significantly to roughly 22%, and transport increased to about 14%. In contrast, clothing and footwear fell to 5%, while fuel and power and personal goods were both around 4%. Household goods decreased slightly to about 6%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.5

The response clearly identifies the main trends and provides a good overview of the data. You successfully highlighted the shift from food being the primary expense in 1968 to leisure and housing dominating in 2018. The data is accurately reported, and comparisons are made effectively between the two years. However, there is a minor inaccuracy in the third paragraph where you state 'around 105' for housing and clothing; this is clearly a typo for 10%. Aside from this, the key features are well-selected and the response covers all parts of the task appropriately.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 8.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs focusing on the two years respectively. Cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'whereas', and 'although' are used effectively to link ideas and show relationships between the data points. The progression of information is smooth, and each paragraph has a clear central topic. The structure is coherent, and the use of paragraphing is appropriate for this task type, making the information easy to follow.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information clearly. Phrases like 'accounted for', 'made up', and 'decreased slightly' are used accurately. While the vocabulary is functional and appropriate for an Academic Task 1, there is room to incorporate more sophisticated or varied synonyms to describe trends, such as 'surged', 'plummeted', or 'remained stable'. The typo '105' instead of '10%' is a minor slip that does not significantly impede communication but affects the precision of the lexical presentation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures effectively. Most sentences are error-free, and the control of grammar is generally strong. You use comparative structures well, such as 'This was much higher than...'. There are no major grammatical errors that hinder understanding. To reach a higher band, you could experiment with more complex sentence structures, such as using participle clauses (e.g., 'Falling from 35%, food expenditure reached...') to increase the sophistication of your grammatical range.

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

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