Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The bar chart compares how families in one country spent their weekly income on different categories in 1968 and 2018. Overall, food was the biggest expense in 1968, while leisure became the largest area of where people spend in 2018.

In 1968, families spent around 40% of their weekly income on food, which was the highest figure so far. Housing and, clothing and footwear both have been spent for about 10%.On the other hand, Household goods, personal goods and transport were around 8%, while 9% was spent on leisure. Moreover, Fuel and power were about 6% of weekly spending.

By 2018, the proportion spent on food had significantly decreased to around 16%. In contrast, spending on leisure increased dramatically to 23%, making it the largest category in the year. Additionally, housing also rise steadily from 10% to 18%, while transport increased from 7% to 14%.Yet, Spending on household goods remain unchanged at 8%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all key features of the chart, providing a clear overview and comparing the two years effectively. You successfully identified the shift in spending priorities, such as the decline in food expenditure and the rise in leisure. However, the report is slightly unbalanced; while you mention most categories, some are grouped or omitted in the second paragraph, and the data for 'fuel and power' is not revisited in the 2018 analysis. To reach a higher band, ensure that all categories mentioned in the overview are consistently tracked or compared across both time periods to provide a more comprehensive summary.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is logically organized into three paragraphs: an introduction/overview, a detailed look at 1968, and a comparison with 2018. You use cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'Moreover', and 'Additionally' to link ideas. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the flow between sentences could be smoother. For instance, the transition between the 1968 data and the 2018 data is clear, but the internal structure of the second paragraph is a bit list-like. Using a wider variety of cohesive markers and improving the logical flow between sentences would enhance the overall readability.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'proportion', 'significantly decreased', and 'dramatically'. There are some minor inaccuracies, such as 'the largest area of where people spend' (which is slightly awkward) and 'housing also rise' (a tense error). While you successfully use topic-specific vocabulary, the range is somewhat limited. To improve, try to incorporate more sophisticated synonyms for 'increase' or 'decrease' and ensure that collocations are natural. For example, instead of 'area of where people spend', consider 'category of expenditure'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that slightly distract the reader, such as 'housing and, clothing and footwear both have been spent for about 10%' (incorrect passive construction) and 'housing also rise' (should be 'rose'). Additionally, there are punctuation issues, such as the missing space after the period in '10%.On the other hand'. While these errors do not impede communication, they indicate a need for more careful proofreading and a better grasp of verb tenses and passive voice structures to achieve a higher band.

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