Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The bar graph compares the percentage of weekly income that families in one country spent their weekly income on eight different categories in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, food accounted for the largest propotion of family spending in 1968, Conversely, leisure and the housing took the 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively, in the terms of average weekly spending. In contrast, expenditure on the remaining categories stayed below 15% in both years.

In 1968, food experienced the biggest propotion of spending at around 35%, Conversely, spending on food decreased to 18% in 2018. Leisure and the housing experienced similar spending trends in both years, With Weekly family expenditure in both categories, approximately 10% and 8% respectively, in 1968. In 2018, spending on both categories increased to around 23% and 19% respectively. In contrast, The category like fuel and power ,personal goods showed slightly different percentage of spending in both years. In 1968, the number of % stood at around 6% and 8% respectively, whereas, Both groups declined backward at around 3% in 2018. The household goods considerably stabled area, stood approximately, 7% in both years. The transport experienced 7 percent weekly spending in 1968, increased to 14% in 2018, Meanwhile, The spending in the area of clothing and footware had 10% in 1968, While, faced decline of 5% in 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the chart and making appropriate comparisons between 1968 and 2018. An overview is successfully provided in the second paragraph, highlighting key extremes such as food being the largest expenditure in 1968 and the shifts in leisure and housing. Specific data points are cited to support the points made, such as food starting at 35% and dropping to 17%, and transport rising from 8% to 14%. While some minor data readings vary slightly, the overall reporting is accurate and adequately satisfies the requirements of Academic Task 1. The student maintains a clear focus on the visual data throughout.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is arranged coherently, with a discernible overall progression from the introduction to the overview and detailed body paragraph information. Paragraphing is attempted, although the structure is somewhat cramped with multiple ideas packed into dense blocks of text. Cohesive devices are employed, but there is notable misuse of punctuation before connectors (such as comma splices and random capitalisation like 'Conversely,' and 'With Weekly'), which makes the flow mechanical at times. Referential pronouns and transitional phrases are used to link ideas, though referencing is occasionally unclear.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'proportion', 'expenditure', and various category names. However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors, including repeated misspellings like 'propotion' and awkward phrasing such as 'declined backward' and 'considerably stabled area'. Furthermore, punctuation and capitalization errors ('clothing and footware', 'the housing') detract from lexical control. While communication is not impeded, these inaccuracies prevent the score from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating subordinate clauses and comparative constructions. However, grammatical control is inconsistent. There are frequent punctuation errors, such as incorrect comma usage ('Leisure and the housing experienced similar spending trends in both years, With Weekly...'), missing articles ('the housing', 'The category like fuel and power'), and capitalization issues within sentences. While many sentences are understandable, errors in agreement and structure occur regularly, placing this securely in the band 6 category.

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