Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-03

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 7.0)

The bar chart provides data related to families who spent their weekly income in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, the expenditure of families on leisure, transport, and housing increased after five decades. In other categories, the proportion of income spent is lower than it was before, with one exception of a household category with the same proportion after fifty years.

In 1968, the highest proportion of weekly income was spent on food, with 35%, followed by housing and clothing, each with a 20% share. Additionally, the share of leisure accounted for 9% as compared to transport, personal goods, and household goods with 8% for each category. Fuel and power had the lowest proportion, around 6%.

In 2018, there was a significant decrease in spending on food from 35% in 1968 to around 16% after five decades. Leisure accounted for around 22%, as compared to housing and transport with around 20% and around 15%, respectively. Personal goods and fuel each held a share of around 5%. Clothing had a share of 5%, while the household goods share remained stable after fifty years with around 8%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

The response covers all parts of the task well. You have successfully identified the main trends, such as the significant decline in food expenditure and the rise in leisure spending. The overview is clear and highlights the key shifts over the fifty-year period. You have also made relevant comparisons between the two years, such as noting the shift in food spending from 35% to 16%. To reach a higher band, ensure that all data points are described with maximum precision; for instance, when mentioning 'household goods', you could explicitly state the percentage for both years to reinforce the comparison.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The response is logically organized with a clear introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs focusing on 1968 and 2018 respectively. The progression of ideas is smooth, and you have used cohesive devices such as 'additionally', 'as compared to', and 'while' effectively to link information. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two time periods. The flow is natural, and the information is easy to follow throughout the report.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.5

You have used a sufficient range of vocabulary to describe the data, including terms like 'expenditure', 'proportion', 'share', and 'stable'. The language is generally precise and appropriate for an academic report. There are no significant errors in word choice. To improve further, you could incorporate more sophisticated collocations or varied verbs to describe trends, such as 'plummeted' for the food category or 'remained constant' instead of 'remained stable'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.0

The response demonstrates a good control of grammatical structures. You have used a mix of simple and complex sentences effectively. Most sentences are error-free, and the punctuation is accurate. There are no major grammatical slips that impede communication. To aim for a higher band, you could experiment with more complex sentence structures, such as using participle clauses or more varied subordinate clauses to compare the data points more fluidly.

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

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