Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-11

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 the average weekly expenditure of households in a specific country across various categories in the years 1968 and 2018.

Overall, there was a significant shift in spending income over the 50-year period. While expenditure on food and clothing saw a speedly decline, household spending on housing, transport, and leisure activities increased considerably.

In 1968, peoples used their highest part of income for food, which was 35 percent and then sharp plummet at 17 percentage in 2018. Conversely, in 1968 families used 9 percent expenses for leaisure but then its raplidly increase in 2018, which was approximately 22 ratio. Its also happen for housing that they consumed 10,18 percent in both years respectively. As well as, they spend thier expenditures in transport, which was 8,14 percent among either year.

Its a noticeable that they paid same ratio for both years, which was 8 percent. Citizen spend their money for fuel and power, clothing and footwear, and in personal goods, these goods expenses rapidly decrease over the 50-year period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response provides a clear overview of the main trends, such as the decline in food expenditure and the rise in leisure and housing costs. However, the reporting of data is often inaccurate or confusing. For instance, stating that housing was '10,18 percent' is unclear, and the use of 'ratio' to describe percentages is incorrect. While the main features are identified, the lack of precision in data reporting and the misinterpretation of some figures (e.g., the claim that fuel and power decreased, which contradicts the chart) prevent a higher score. The response covers all categories but lacks the necessary accuracy to fully satisfy the requirements of the task.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into logical paragraphs, with an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs. There is a clear attempt to use cohesive devices such as 'Conversely', 'Overall', and 'As well as'. However, the flow is occasionally disrupted by awkward phrasing and mechanical errors in referencing. For example, 'Its also happen for housing' and 'Its a noticeable that' are grammatically incorrect and hinder the smooth progression of ideas. While the paragraphing is appropriate, the internal cohesion within sentences is often weak due to these recurring errors, making the text feel somewhat disjointed.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The range of vocabulary is limited and often used incorrectly. There are frequent errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'speedly decline' (should be 'rapid decline'), 'peoples' (should be 'people'), and 'leaisure' (spelling error). The use of 'ratio' instead of 'percentage' is a recurring issue that demonstrates a lack of precision. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general meaning, the errors are frequent enough to cause some difficulty for the reader and indicate a limited control over more sophisticated lexical items.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response relies on a mix of simple and some attempted complex structures, but these are frequently marred by grammatical errors. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('peoples used', 'they spend thier expenditures'), incorrect verb tenses ('its raplidly increase'), and misuse of pronouns ('Its also happen'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with the use of commas in numbers (e.g., '10,18 percent'). While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of basic grammatical errors means that the writer does not demonstrate consistent control over complex structures.

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