Band 8.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 8.0 · 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 8.0)

The chart compares how families allocated their weekly income across eight spending categories in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, spending on food, clothing and footwear, fuel and power, and personal goods decreased as a proportion of income over the fifty-year period, while expenditure on leisure, housing, and transport increased considerably. Spending on household goods remained relatively stable.

In 1968, food accounted for the largest share of family income, at around 35%, but by 2018 this figure had fallen sharply to approximately 17%. Similarly, clothing and footwear saw a considerable decline, dropping from roughly 10% in 1968 to just 5% in 2018. Fuel and power spending also fell slightly, from about 6% to 4%, and personal goods decreased marginally from 7% to 4% over the same period.

By contrast, leisure spending rose dramatically, more than doubling from around 9% in 1968 to approximately 22% in 2018, making it the largest spending category by the end of the period. Housing expenditure also increased substantially, nearly doubling from 10% to 19%, while transport costs rose from 8% to 14%. Spending on household goods remained relatively unchanged, at around 8% in both years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.5

The student has fully addressed all parts of the task by selecting and reporting the main features of the chart while making relevant comparisons between 1968 and 2018. The overview paragraph successfully captures the general trends—noting that spending on categories like food decreased while leisure and housing increased. Data points are accurately reported, such as food dropping from around 35% to 17% and leisure rising from roughly 9% to 22%. The information is well-supported by specific figures from the visual data, and there are no omissions or inaccuracies. The response meets the highest standards for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression. It begins with a helpful introductory paraphrase of the prompt, follows with a concise and effective overview paragraph, and then groups the body paragraphs logically into decreasing trends and increasing trends. Cohesive devices are used naturally and effectively throughout the text, such as 'Overall', 'while', 'In 1968', 'Similarly', 'By contrast', and 'while'. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct aspects of the data, ensuring that the essay flows smoothly from start to finish without any obtrusive or mechanical transitions.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.5

The student demonstrates a wide and flexible lexical range suitable for an Academic Task 1 response. Less common vocabulary items and phrases are used skillfully and naturally, such as 'allocated their weekly income', 'considerable decline', 'dropping from roughly', and 'rose dramatically'. Word choice and collocations are accurate, with phrases like 'largest share', 'substantial increase', and 'relatively unchanged' reflecting a strong command of topic-specific language. There are no noticeable spelling or word-choice errors, allowing the message to be communicated with precision and ease.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 7.5

The response exhibits a wide range of complex sentence structures used with a high degree of flexibility and accuracy. The majority of sentences are error-free, featuring sophisticated syntactic constructions such as participial phrases and subordinate clauses (e.g., 'spending on food... decreased as a proportion of income over the fifty-year period, while expenditure on leisure... increased considerably'). Control of grammar and punctuation is excellent, with only very occasional, minor slips that never impede communication. The control over tense and comparative structures is consistently strong.

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