Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

over the past few decades life in itself has changed in ways that are somewhat fascianating, and right in front of us is a chart that indicates and compare how families in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018, some could say that not much has changed since then and some might say that much has changed, but looking at these statistics we have hard proof of how things been and how they are now, let's take food by example in 1968 the amount of money spent on it was highly difference than 2018 considering how goods are mostly made locally now so on it would cost lesser than before, but if we take housing by example then in 2018 it did increase considering inflation, fuel and power hasn't changed as much, clothing and footware did reduce in price now, therefor families wont spend as much as they used to in 1968, personal goods are affordable as well, but transportation did increase than before, even leisure.

but all of this taking into consideration we should also consider how income ranges now are somwhat more than before and inflation also takes a big role in this.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to address the task by discussing various categories such as food, housing, and transportation, comparing 1968 and 2018. However, the student fails to provide a clear, structured overview of the main trends and relies heavily on external explanations and speculation (such as 'goods are mostly made locally now') rather than strictly reporting the data from the chart. Furthermore, several data points are described vaguely or incorrectly, such as stating that fuel and power has not changed as much, while misinterpreting the proportional nature of percentage-of-income data. Ideas are under-developed and lack precise figures or effective comparative summaries, corresponding to Band 5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The text suffers from major structural issues, notably being written almost entirely as a single long, run-on sentence separated only by commas, which violates proper paragraphing conventions. Cohesive devices are either missing or misused (e.g., 'let's take food by example', 'therefor families wont spend'). There is no clear logical progression or paragraph division to separate the introduction, body details, and overview, leading to a confusing read that places this response firmly at Band 4.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, with noticeable spelling errors such as 'fascianating', 'therefor', and 'somwhat'. While the student attempts some less common terms and phrases ('considering inflation', 'weekly income'), the misuse of word forms and inaccurate phrasing (e.g., 'highly difference than 2018', 'cost lesser than before') causes strain for the reader. The range is limited and minimally adequate for attempting the topic, placing it at Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

Grammatically, the response is severely limited by run-on sentences containing comma splices and multiple clauses strung together without proper subordination or punctuation. There is a lack of control over complex sentence structures, leading to frequent errors in subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, and word form (e.g., 'how things been', 'transportation did increase than before'). Simple sentences are prone to structural breakdowns, warranting a Band 4.

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