Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-07

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 illustration gives the comparison of families weekly expenditure in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, the graph exhibits that highest bar shows food expense and the lowest is of personal goods and fuel and power.

It is quite evident from the bar chart that it shows the comparison of weekly income expanse. In 1968, the maximum proportion of weekly income which was 35% spent on food, followed by housing and clothing and footware expanse which was 10%. Then, almost 9% spent on leisure. Moreover, the percentage of the Household goods, the personal goods and the Transport was almost same that is 8%. The least percentage of the weekly expanse is 6% is of fuel and power.

In contrast, in 2018, the four bars of expanses on food, fuel and power, clothing and footware and personal goods plummeted to 16%, 4%,5% and 4% respectively. The others three bars of leisure, transport and housing surged to 22%, 14% and 18%. The percentage of household weekly expenditure remain same in 1968 and 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers the main features of the chart and makes relevant comparisons between 1968 and 2018. However, the analysis is somewhat mechanical and lacks a clear overview of the most significant trends. For instance, while you mention that food expenditure plummeted, you could have highlighted the shift from essential goods to leisure more effectively. The data reporting is generally accurate, but the description of the 'household goods' category is slightly confusing, as you state it remained the same while the chart indicates a slight change. To reach a higher band, ensure your overview synthesizes the data rather than just listing figures.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, and there is a clear progression of ideas from the introduction to the body paragraphs. You use some cohesive devices such as 'In contrast' and 'Moreover' to link your points. However, the flow is occasionally hindered by repetitive sentence structures and some awkward phrasing, such as 'the others three bars'. The referencing is generally clear, but the transition between the overview and the detailed body paragraphs could be smoother to improve the overall coherence of the response.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, using terms like 'expenditure', 'proportion', 'plummeted', and 'surged'. However, there are several instances of word-choice errors and non-standard collocations, such as 'weekly income expanse' (should be 'expenditure') and 'clothing and footware' (spelling error: 'footwear'). The repetition of the word 'bars' to describe the data categories is somewhat simplistic. To improve, focus on using more precise terminology and ensuring correct spelling of key vocabulary related to data description.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While you successfully use some complex sentences, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles ('the highest bar', 'the lowest is of'), subject-verb agreement ('the percentage... remain same'), and preposition usage. For example, 'the lowest is of personal goods' is grammatically awkward. While these errors do not completely impede communication, they are frequent enough to prevent a higher score. Focusing on proofreading for basic grammatical accuracy and article usage would significantly improve your writing.

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

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