Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-05

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 chart compares families in term of how they spent their weekly income over a period of 50 years in the one specific country.

It is clear that the total amount of spendings in the country fell considerably between 1968 and 2018. The most dramatic decrease was seen in the food category.

In 1968, 35% of weekly budget spent on food category. The housing category was taking 10% of the budget, while the fuel and power sector consumes only around 7% of the total spending. The clothing and footware was responsible for 10% of the budget's spending, while household goods were responsible for around 7.5% of the spending. The transport and Leisure categories takes around 6 and 7 percent of the budget's spending respectively.

Budget spending on food, and clothing and footware sectors fell dramatically to around 17 and 5 percent respectively in 2018, a drop of almost half of their amount. While fuel and power in addition with personal goods fell gradually, on the other hand, housing, transport and leisure activities saw increase in spendings and leisure activities are those where the most of the budget spends in 2018, a increase of almost 13% in 2018. While the household goods takes the amount which it takes in 1968 and continuously tooks 7.5 of the budget.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the chart, identifying the overall trend of decreasing spending in some categories and increases in others. However, the analysis is slightly hampered by inaccuracies in data interpretation. For example, you state that total spending fell, but the chart shows percentages of a weekly budget, not absolute total amounts. Additionally, the claim that 'leisure activities are those where the most of the budget spends in 2018' is incorrect, as housing remains the highest category at 20%. While you successfully select and report key data points, the lack of precision in interpreting the nature of the data (percentages vs. total amounts) and some misreadings of the figures limit the score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, a body paragraph for 1968, and a body paragraph for 2018. There is a clear attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'while', 'on the other hand', and 'in addition'. However, the flow is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions are awkward, such as 'in addition with personal goods fell gradually'. Referencing is sometimes unclear, particularly when discussing the 2018 data, where the connection between the categories and the percentages becomes slightly muddled. Overall, the progression of ideas is evident, but the management of cohesion could be more sophisticated.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'dramatic decrease', 'responsible for', and 'category'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and awkward collocations, such as 'total amount of spendings' (spending is usually uncountable), 'clothing and footware' (spelling error: footwear), and 'takes the amount which it takes'. These errors do not impede communication, but they do prevent the response from reaching a higher band. To improve, focus on using more precise academic vocabulary and ensuring correct word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'Leisure categories takes', 'household goods takes', 'continuously tooks') and tense inconsistencies (e.g., 'budget spends in 2018'). While these errors are noticeable, they rarely impede the reader's understanding of the data. To reach a higher band, you need to demonstrate better control over verb forms and ensure that your sentence structures are consistently accurate, particularly when describing trends over time.

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

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