Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-14

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 chart compares the different expenditures of families in a country on weekly basis in 1968 and in 2018.

Some of the sectors including food, fuel and power, clothing and footware, personal goods witnessed a downward shift in terms of spending money, while more amount of money was used for housing, transport and leisure compared to the previous year.

In contrast, majority of the money was spent on food (about 35%) in 1968 that declined to an amount of approximately 17% in 2018 showing the most dramatic drop. Other fields, like fuel and power, clothing and footware and personal goods had also illustrated substantial decrease in their spendings.

On the contrary, expending money in leisure illustrated the most significant upward trend by occupying about 22% of the total income, which was only about 9% in the former year. People also increased their paying in housing by an enormous amount as it reached to approximately 19% from 10%. Similarly, transportation sector also saw a huge rise in reserving their weekly income.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response covers all key parts of the task by comparing the spending categories between 1968 and 2018. The candidate successfully identifies the main trends, noting that food, fuel and power, clothing and footwear, and personal goods decreased, while housing, transport, and leisure increased. Accurate data is cited, such as food dropping from 35% to 17% and leisure rising from 9% to 22%. However, there is a minor error in grouping categories, as household goods actually remained static at 8% rather than clearly fitting into either trend. Overall, the main features and comparisons are clearly reported and well-selected, satisfying the requirements for a Band 7.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is logically organized with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introductory statement, moves to a general overview paragraph, and then provides specific body paragraphs contrasting the downward and upward trends. Cohesive devices such as 'In contrast', 'Other fields, like', and 'On the contrary' are used to connect ideas, although some transitions like 'On the contrary' are slightly misused in context since the trends are contrasting rather than opposing arguments. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different categories of information. Progression is logical throughout.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully incorporating terms like 'expenditures', 'downward shift', 'dramatic drop', and 'upward trend'. There are some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'more amount of money was used', 'expending money in leisure', and 'increased their paying in housing'. Additionally, there is a spelling error with 'footware' instead of 'footwear'. These minor lexical inaccuracies do not impede communication, placing the response solidly in the Band 6 range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and introductory phrases effectively. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasing choices, such as 'families in a country on weekly basis' (missing an article), 'more amount of money was used' (uncountable noun quantifier error), and 'transportation sector also saw a huge rise in reserving their weekly income' (inappropriate verb choice). Punctuation is generally accurate, and while errors are present, they rarely impede overall communication, supporting a Band 6 score.

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