Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The bar chart illustrates the information regarding about how families in one century spent their weekly income in eight different common items by the period 1968 and 2018.

Overall, initially food was by far the most common need in country, people spent majority of their income on food items, however it declined throughout the period. whereas, Fuel and power had remained the lowest in terms of weekly spending by families.

By the period 1968, majority of families spent 35% of their revenue on food items, however, in 2018 it experiences a fall and declined to around 17%. In terms of Housing, 10% of individual's income was spent on house rent. In 1968, followed by 2018, house rent was inclined and people invest 19% of their income. Moreover, Fuel and power had remained the least, families spent 6% in 1968 and jumped downward to around 4% in 2018. Only 10% of people's income was spend on clothing and footware in 1968 and decreased to half (5%) in 2018.

Furthermore, leisure activities made up 8% of families income in 1968, nevertheless in following years people were more likely to spend on these activities to get rid from daily stress and, increased to about 23% in 2018. Transport people invest 7% of their income on transportation, however with increased economy people started to spend 13% in 2018. Moreover, personal goods had remained steady throughout the period, 7% in 1968 and 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all key features of the chart, including the significant decline in food spending and the rise in leisure expenditure. You successfully identified the main trends and made relevant comparisons between 1968 and 2018. However, there are some inaccuracies in the data reporting; for instance, you stated that fuel and power 'jumped downward' to 4%, whereas the chart shows a decrease from 6% to 4%. Additionally, the overview is slightly cluttered with specific data points, which should be reserved for the body paragraphs. To improve, ensure that the overview focuses only on the most significant trends without citing specific percentages.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. You use a range of cohesive devices such as 'however', 'furthermore', and 'nevertheless' to link ideas. However, the use of some connectors is slightly mechanical or occasionally misused, such as 'whereas' at the start of a sentence when it should be used to contrast clauses. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but the transition between the overview and the body paragraphs could be smoother. The referencing is generally clear, though some sentences feel slightly disjointed due to the phrasing of the comparisons.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'expenditure', 'revenue', and 'steady'. However, there are several instances of awkward word choice and collocation errors, such as 'get rid from daily stress' (should be 'relieve daily stress') and 'jumped downward' (which is contradictory). There are also minor errors in word form, such as 'footware' (spelled 'footwear') and 'individual's income' (when referring to families). To reach a higher band, focus on more precise collocations and ensure that your vocabulary choices are natural and contextually appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text. Examples include 'in eight different common items by the period 1968 and 2018' (preposition error), 'it experiences a fall' (tense inconsistency), and 'people invest 7% of their income' (tense inconsistency). There are also issues with subject-verb agreement and article usage. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on maintaining consistent tense usage when describing historical data and proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy.

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