Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-01

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 illusrates how famililes spent their weekly income across eight catergories in 1968 and 2018 in one country.

Overall, the average spending was decreased on food, fuel and power, clothing and footware, and personal goods, whereas it recorded a significant in crease on leisure activities, housing and transportation. By contrast, spending on household and goods remained stable over the both period.

Average weekly spending on food experienced a substantial fall from 35% to just above 15% between the two recorded years. A similar trend was observed in fuel and power, spending on thise category standing at around 5 % in both years. Notably, families expenditure on clothing and footware, and personal goods remained at or below ten percent. Clothing and footware represented 10% in 1968 before declining to 5% in 2018, decreasing by half, while personal goods accouted for approximately 9% in1968 compared with only about 4% in the second period.

However, money spending on leisure activities, housing and transportation witnessed a marked growth, with leisure activities by far representing the most highest rise from just under 10% to about 23%, followed by housing category, which made up only 10% before growing substantially to just under 20%,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

You have successfully identified the main trends and provided a clear overview of the data. You selected relevant features, such as the significant decline in food spending and the growth in leisure and housing. However, the report is incomplete as it fails to mention the 'household goods' category in the body paragraphs, despite mentioning it in the overview. Additionally, there is a factual error regarding 'fuel and power'; the chart shows a decrease from approximately 6% to 3%, whereas you stated it remained at around 5%. To reach a higher band, ensure all categories are addressed with accurate data interpretation.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. You use cohesive devices such as 'By contrast', 'Notably', and 'However' to link ideas effectively. However, the paragraphing is slightly unbalanced, and the final sentence is incomplete, ending with a comma instead of a period. While the progression of ideas is generally clear, the mechanical error at the end of the text slightly disrupts the flow. Improving the transition between sentences and ensuring punctuation is accurate will enhance the overall coherence.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'substantial fall', 'marked growth', and 'accounted for'. However, there are several spelling errors throughout the text, such as 'illusrates', 'famililes', 'catergories', 'footware', and 'accouted'. These errors are noticeable but do not impede communication. To improve, you should focus on proofreading for common spelling mistakes and try to incorporate more precise collocations to describe trends, such as 'a significant shift' or 'a marginal increase'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as 'Clothing and footware represented 10% in 1968 before declining to 5% in 2018'. While you show control over basic structures, there are several grammatical inaccuracies, such as 'the most highest rise' (superlative error), 'spending on thise category' (demonstrative error), and 'remained stable over the both period' (article/preposition error). The final sentence is also a fragment due to the missing conclusion. Increasing the frequency of error-free complex sentences will help you achieve a higher band.

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

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