Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-06

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 information about how households in one nation spent their weekly income between 1968 and 2018. The expenses are divided into eight items such as food, housing, fuel and power, clothing, household goods, personal goods, transport and leisure.

Overall, food accounted for the highest proportion of income spent by households, whereas the fuel and power accounted for the lowest proportion in the graph.

Initially, 35% of income was spent by households on food in 1968 and nearly half was spent by households in 2018 around 17%. Moreover, the families spent 10% of their income on housing in 1968 and nearly doubled in 2018 around 19%. Meanwhile Transport and personal goods were 7% and 4% in 1968 and they were doubled in 2018. In addition, the families spent their income on household goods was same in both years around 7%. Although, the amount spent on clothing and footwear were 10% in 1968 but it was decreased by 5% in 2018. The amount spent on fuel and power in 1968 were around 6%. and it was decreased in 2018 by 2%. Finally, the amount spent on leisure was around 9% in 1968 and more than doubled to 22% in 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

You have successfully identified the main features of the chart and provided relevant comparisons between 1968 and 2018. You covered all categories and highlighted key trends, such as the significant rise in leisure spending and the decline in food expenditure. However, there are some inaccuracies in your reporting; for example, you stated that food expenditure in 2018 was 'nearly half' of the 1968 figure, but 17% is actually less than half of 35%. Additionally, your claim that transport and personal goods 'doubled' is not entirely accurate based on the data provided. More precise data handling would elevate your score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is logically organized, moving from an introduction to an overview and then into specific details. You use some cohesive devices such as 'Moreover', 'Meanwhile', and 'Although' to link ideas. However, the flow is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions feel slightly forced. Paragraphing is present, but the body paragraph is quite dense; splitting the data into two distinct paragraphs (e.g., one for categories that increased and one for those that decreased or remained stable) would improve the logical progression and readability of your report.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'proportion', 'expenditure', and 'illustrates'. However, there is some repetition of basic verbs like 'spent' and 'accounted for'. You also make some minor errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'the fuel and power accounted for the lowest proportion in the graph' (which is slightly awkward) and 'the amount spent on clothing and footwear were 10%'. To reach a higher band, try to incorporate more varied synonyms for 'increase' and 'decrease' and ensure more precise usage of nouns and verbs.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, which is appropriate for this task. However, there are several grammatical errors that occur throughout the text, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('the amount spent on clothing and footwear were 10%') and punctuation errors (e.g., '6%. and it was decreased'). Additionally, some phrasing is slightly ungrammatical, such as 'the families spent their income on household goods was same'. While these errors do not impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focus on proofreading for basic agreement and sentence boundary errors.

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