Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

this graphe shows the information about how families spent their weekly income in 1968 and 2018. We can see the different products or services spent on,we can start by the food as we can see that is the highest utility of all families in 1968 it reaches 35% of income, but in 2018 it decrease to 17% where we can see hugh difference .But in other side leisure is contradiction of the food , because in 1968 it had 9% and it increased to 23% in 2018 ,as a results they spent more incomes in there's leisure. housing and transport uses have been increasing with time from 10% and 8% respectively to 19% and 14% from 1968 to 2018.In the other side personal goods , clothing and footwear and feul and power are decreased with time from 8%,10% and 6% respectively to 4%,5% and 5% of incomes.

finaly , there is just household goods which keeps spent in incomes fox with 14% from 1968 until 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of weekly spending in 1968 and 2018 and making relevant comparisons. An overview is attempted, and key data points such as food and leisure are accurately contrasted. However, there are minor inaccuracies in data reporting; for instance, the student states that household goods remained fixed at 14%, whereas the chart shows household goods at 8% in both years (the 14% figure appears to be a misread or confusion). Furthermore, the lack of proper paragraphing limits the development of a fully coherent response. Nevertheless, the core comparisons between categories like food decreasing and leisure increasing are well-handled, meeting the requirements for a Band 5.5 to 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response suffers significantly from a lack of paragraphing, appearing as one solid block of text with only two fragments. Cohesive devices are used, but they are often awkward or repetitive, such as 'as we can see', 'But in other side', and 'In the other side'. The overall logical progression is somewhat disjointed due to run-on sentences and punctuation errors, making it difficult for the reader to follow the flow of information smoothly. While some basic logical sequencing is present, the absence of appropriate paragraph breaks and mechanical use of cohesive devices places this criterion firmly at a Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms related to data trends such as 'increase', 'decrease', and 'highest utility'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'graphe' instead of graph, 'hugh difference' for huge difference, 'contradiction' instead of contrast, and 'keeps spent in incomes fox'. These errors reflect a limited control over less common vocabulary and spelling. Although communication is not severely impeded, the frequency of lexical inaccuracies prevents the score from reaching a higher band, making a Band 5.0 appropriate.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but it is heavily marred by grammatical and punctuation errors. Run-on sentences are common, joined improperly by commas without conjunctions, as seen in 'We can see the different products or services spent on,we can start by the food...'. There are also issues with verb tenses and prepositions, such as 'feul and power are decreased' and 'more incomes in there's leisure'. These frequent errors require the reader to occasionally decode the intended meaning, matching the descriptors for Band 5.0 where attempts at complex structures are often faulty.

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

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