Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-02
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 5.0)
The given graph illustrates the percentage of families in one country as where they spent their weekly income among 1968 and in 2018.
From an overview analysis, it manifest that all the mentioned categories such as Food, housing, fuel and power, clothing and footwear, household goods, personal goods, transport, leisure over time span of years 1968 and 2018.
Going into depth, out of all individuals spent the highest proportion of their weekly income on food among the year 1968 and 2018, accounting for 35% and 17%. It is followed by second highest proportion of money is spent on leisure at 22% and 9% during rendered rendered time period whereas, the lowest fraction of spending was recorded in fuel and power which was below than 7% and 5% both assigned years. Interestingly, the percentum of individuals spend their weekly income on different categories was remained not change at 7% during couple of year 1968 and 2018.
Moving on, there was marginal huge gap was established in the year in the percent-um of people spend their weekly income on various categories in 1968 and 2018 the figure for the farmer year was food at 35% and for alter year was at 16%. Moreover, in the cause of income spent by individuals, the percentum was hovered around at household goods in both provided years lastly, the respective fraction of personal goods was 7% and 4% in 1968 and 2018.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response covers the main features of the chart, such as the decline in food expenditure and the comparison between 1968 and 2018. However, the analysis is often inaccurate or confusing. For example, the claim that leisure was the second highest category at 22% and 9% is factually incorrect based on the provided data. Additionally, the statement that spending on fuel and power was 'below 7% and 5%' is vague and fails to accurately report the specific figures. The summary lacks a clear, accurate overview of the trends, and some data points are misidentified, which hinders the overall task achievement.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, but the logical progression is frequently disrupted by unclear phrasing and awkward transitions. Cohesive devices are used, but they are often misused or mechanical, such as 'Going into depth' or 'Moving on'. The referencing is sometimes confusing, making it difficult for the reader to follow the comparison between the two years. While there is a basic structure, the lack of clarity in how ideas are linked and the repetitive nature of the sentence structures prevent a higher score.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary is limited and repetitive. The student uses non-standard terms like 'percentum' and 'farmer year' (likely meaning 'former') and 'alter year' (likely meaning 'latter'), which are incorrect. Phrases like 'marginal huge gap' are contradictory and demonstrate a lack of control over lexical precision. While the student attempts to use topic-specific vocabulary, the frequent errors in word choice and the use of non-existent or misused terms significantly impede the clarity of the report.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response contains frequent grammatical errors that often obscure meaning. There are issues with subject-verb agreement ('the percentum... was remained not change'), incorrect preposition usage, and awkward sentence construction. Complex structures are attempted but are almost always faulty, such as 'the given graph illustrates the percentage of families in one country as where they spent their weekly income'. Simple sentences are more successful, but the overall control of grammar is weak, with errors occurring in almost every sentence.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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