Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-19

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 chart given depicts the information about spending of weekly income of families in one country in year 1968 and in year 2018.

Overall, it shows that people were spending most of their weekly income on food in 1968 and in 2018 most of the income was spent on leisure. It shows that housing and leisure were the main expenses of people in 2018.

in 1968, people were mostly spending their money on buying food items, which was 35% of their weekly income, clothing and footware and housing were the second main expense, which were 10% of their income. People were spending about 8% on leisure, transport and household goods, while only about 7% of the total income was spent on fuel.

In 2018, people were spending most of their income on leisure which was about 22%, around 19% of their income was spent on housing, food expense was only around 18%, which was much less compared to food expense in year 1968, people were spending around 14% on transport, around 8% on household goods and 5% on clothing and footwear. The weekly income spnt on personal goods and fuel and power was only around 4%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons between 1968 and 2018. The overview captures the most significant shifts correctly, noting that food was the highest expense in 1968 while leisure and housing dominated in 2018. Specific data points, such as food at 35% in 1968 and leisure at 22% in 2018, are accurately cited from the chart. The trends are generally well described, though the overview could be slightly more comprehensive by mentioning housing alongside food and leisure. Overall, the response meets the requirements for Band 6.5 to 7.0, showing a clear awareness of the key data.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is arranged logically into four paragraphs: an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs detailing each year respectively. However, the logical progression suffers at times due to weak transitional phrasing and punctuation issues, such as a lowercase starting letter for 'in 1968' and run-on structures in the body paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used, but some referencing feels mechanical. Paragraphing is present and helps structure the text, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs could be tighter to achieve a higher band score.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'weekly income', 'expenses', and 'leisure'. However, there are instances of unnatural phrasing and spelling errors, such as 'clothing and footware' (footwear) and 'spnt' (spent). Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success, and word choice is sometimes repetitive. The lexical range is sufficient to convey the main points clearly, but the presence of spelling slips and standard phrasing keeps this criterion at a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as subordinate clauses ('which was 35% of their weekly income'). However, there are frequent grammatical and punctuation errors, including comma splices and run-on sentences, notably in the third and fourth paragraphs where multiple clauses are joined solely by commas. While these errors do not severely impede overall communication, they demonstrate a lack of consistent control over complex structures, placing the response firmly in the Band 6 category.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.