Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-16

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 Horizontal bar graph, shows weekly expenditure of the families as a percentage of their income in the year 1968 and also in 2018. A total of 8 categories have been shown.

Overall, most of the weekly wage was being spent on food and the least percentage was spent on fuel and power in the year 1968. Similarly, in 2018 leisure made the most of the expenditure while personal goods and fuel and power being the least.

Almost, half was spent on food in 2018 as compared to the year 1968 which made almost 35% of the total salary usage. While opposite is true for leisure and housing, that their percentage doubled in 2018, around 22%, which was only 9%(less than half) in the year 1968 and 19% which was around only 10% in 1968, respectively. A greater percentage that is 7% more was spent on transport in the year 2018 in comparison to what was spent in 1968.

Household goods is the only category which maintained 7.5% of total expenditure in both years. Similarly, least amount was spent on fuel and power in both years. A comparative percentage that is 4%, being the lowest was also spent on personal goods in the year 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student covers all parts of the task well by selecting and reporting the main features of the chart, such as food spending in 1968 and leisure spending in 2018. An overview is successfully attempted in the second paragraph, capturing the most prominent trends. Key comparisons are made between the two years, such as the drop in food expenditure and the rise in leisure and housing. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in data interpretation, such as stating that 'almost, half was spent on food in 2018' when the figure is actually 17%, which misreads the visual data. Despite this error, the overall response successfully addresses the prompt requirements with relevant and extended comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The text is logically organised into four paragraphs: an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs detailing specific categories. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader, such as 'Overall', 'Similarly', and 'While opposite is true'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different features of the data. However, referencing is occasionally imprecise, and some sentences feel slightly clunky or mechanically linked, such as 'While opposite is true for leisure and housing, that their percentage doubled... and 19% which was around only 10% in 1968, respectively.' Overall progression is clear, achieving a solid Band 6 level for cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range appropriate for Task 1, employing terms like 'expenditure', 'percentage', 'category', and 'proportion'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary, though some word choices and phrasing are awkward or inaccurate, such as 'total salary usage' (income is more accurate than salary here) and 'leisure made the most of the expenditure'. Spelling is generally accurate, but some minor lexical inaccuracies occur, such as writing 'footware' in the prompt data which the student avoided by using other terms. The vocabulary is sufficient to communicate the main points clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and comparative structures (e.g., 'A greater percentage that is 7% more was spent on transport...'). There are several grammatical errors and awkward punctuation placements, such as the comma splice in the first sentence ('The Horizontal bar graph, shows...') and missing articles or preposition issues (e.g., 'while personal goods and fuel and power being the least'). However, these errors do not impede communication, and the meaning remains clear throughout the response, fitting the criteria for Band 6.

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

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