Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 line graph illustrates data on the weekly spending of families in one country in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, it can be seen that the average weekly spending on food and leisure accounted for the largest share in 1968 and 2018, respectively, while fuel and power contributed the lowest share in both years.

In 1968, food contributed the highest proportion of spending at 35%, whereas both housing and clothing & footware recorded the second largest expenditure at roughly 10%. Personal and household goods, transport, and leisure all showed the equal proportions of spending at almost 9%.

In 2018, people's trend towrds leisure increased and recorded as the activity with highest spending at approximately 23%, while the weekly expenses of food and housing are roughly the same at 17-18%. Fuel and personal goods showed a low percentage of spending at almost 4%. Notably, housing's weekly spending was same in both years at 8%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the two given years and making relevant comparisons. An appropriate overview is provided, highlighting food and leisure as the main expenditure areas in 1968 and 2018 respectively, along with fuel and power as the lowest. However, there are some minor factual inaccuracies when reporting the data. For instance, the student states that personal and household goods, transport, and leisure all showed equal proportions of spending at almost 9% in 1968, whereas the chart shows transport at 8% and leisure at 9%. Furthermore, in the final paragraph, the student claims that housing weekly spending was the same in both years at 8%, which contradicts the chart (10% in 1968 and 19% in 2018). Despite these data reporting errors, the overall response covers the key trends adequately, earning a solid Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response is arranged coherently with a clear overall progression. It begins with an introductory statement, followed by an overview paragraph, and then body paragraphs dedicated to 1968 and 2018 respectively. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. Cohesive devices are used adequately to guide the reader through the data, such as 'Overall', 'In 1968', 'whereas', and 'Notably'. However, referencing and transitional links occasionally feel slightly mechanical or repetitive, and some relationships between sentences are not fully polished. Nevertheless, the logical organization is clear and easy to follow, making Coherence and Cohesion the strongest criterion in this response, comfortably meeting Band 6.5 standards.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for an Academic Task 1 response, employing terms such as 'proportion', 'expenditure', 'respectively', and 'approximately'. There are some attempts at less common lexical items, but also noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and spelling, such as 'towrds' instead of 'towards', and inaccuracies in reporting data relationships. Furthermore, describing the chart as a 'line graph' when it is actually a 'bar chart' indicates a lexical error regarding visual data types. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the main information, these errors and occasional lack of precision prevent the score from rising higher, placing it firmly at Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and comparative structures such as 'while fuel and power contributed the lowest share' and 'whereas both housing and clothing & footware recorded the second largest expenditure'. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'showed the equal proportions' (unnecessary article 'the'), 'people's trend towrds leisure increased and recorded as the activity' (awkward passive voice and spelling error), and 'the weekly expenses of food and housing are roughly the same' (tense shift from past to present 'are' when describing 2018 data). Despite these errors, meaning is generally clear and does not impede communication, supporting a Band 5.5 score.

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