Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-18
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)
The chart below gives information about how families in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and 2018.
In 1968 the people spent 35% of their income to buy the food but in 2018 people bought the food by 18% of the income. In 1968 one family spent 10% of the income for the housing but in 2018 a family spent 195 of their income for the housing.
In 1968 a family paid 7% of the income for the fuel and power and in 2018 a family paid 4% of the income for fuel and power.
In 1968 a family spent 10% for the clothes but in 2018 a family paid 5% of the income. Both paid equally for the household goods. The family in 1968 spent 8% for the personal goods and the family in 2018 spent 4% for the personal goods.
The family in 2018 paid 14% for the transport but the family in 1968 spent 8% for the transport. The family in 2018 spent 23% for the leisure and the family in 1968 spent 85 for the leisure.
In the conclusion both had different kind of advantages and disadvantages.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response covers most of the key features of the chart, comparing data for 1968 and 2018 across multiple categories such as food, housing, transport, and leisure. However, there are several data inaccuracies and typographical errors that detract from the overall accuracy, such as writing "195 of their income" instead of 19%, and "85 for the leisure" instead of 85% or 9%. Additionally, the introductory sentence merely copies the prompt, and the concluding sentence ("In the conclusion both had different kind of advantages and disadvantages") is vague and fails to summarise the main trends effectively. Consequently, the task is only partially addressed with limited data interpretation, fitting the Band 5 descriptor.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The essay attempts to organise information by grouping different spending categories into separate paragraphs (e.g., food and housing in paragraph two, fuel and power in paragraph three, etc.). However, this results in an overly fragmented structure with too many very short paragraphs. There is a lack of overall progression and cohesive devices are extremely repetitive, with almost every sentence starting with "In 1968... and in 2018...". Furthermore, referencing is sometimes unclear, and the concluding paragraph does not logically wrap up the data presented in the body paragraphs. These issues align the response with Band 5 for coherence and cohesion.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used throughout the response is very basic and repetitive. Phrases such as "spent ... of their income", "paid ... of the income", and "bought the food" are used constantly without variation. There are also clear vocabulary and numerical transcription errors (e.g., "clothes" instead of clothing, and typographical slips like "195" for 19%). The lexical range is narrow and barely adequate to communicate the straightforward data in the task, representing typical Band 5 performance.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The essay relies heavily on simple sentence structures that follow a repetitive pattern (Subject + verb + percentage + prepositional phrase). When the student attempts complex or compound structures, control is weak and errors are frequent. There are persistent grammatical inaccuracies, such as unnecessary articles ("the food", "the housing", "the clothes") and preposition errors ("spent ... to buy", "spent ... for"). While these errors do not completely prevent the reader from understanding the general comparisons, they cause frequent difficulty and restrict the grammar to a Band 5 level.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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