Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-20

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 graph below illustrates the information about how families in one continent spent their average weekly income between 1968 to 2018.

overall, the highly spent income in 1968 is in food where leisure is the second highly spent trend in 2018. the lowest spending is in fuel and power in 1968 and in personal goods in 2018.

In food, the families spend 35% in 1968 and 17% in 2018. In housing it is only 10% in 1968 and 19% in 2018.In fuel and power it is less than others. it is only 6% in 1968 and 4% in 2018. In clothing and footware the spending increases by 10% in 1968 and 5% in 2018.

In household goods it is 8% in both 1968 and 2018. also in both personal goods and transport is both 8% in 1968 and 2018. whereas it is only 4% in 2018 spending in personal goods. In transport it is 7% and 14% in 1968 and in 2018. And in leisure it is 10% and 22% in 1968 and in 2018.

In constrast after food ,the spending became less in all items slowly.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The student attempts to cover the main features of the chart comparing 1968 and 2018 spending. However, there are significant data inaccuracies and misreadings throughout the text. For instance, the student states that 'clothing and footware the spending increases by 10% in 1968 and 5% in 2018', which is a confusing and inaccurate reporting of the proportions. Furthermore, the overview is weak, containing minor flaws such as mentioning 'one continent' instead of 'one country', and the concluding sentence is vague. While the response identifies key categories like food and leisure, the inaccuracies in data reporting prevent it from achieving a higher band. It meets the minimum word count requirement.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The response is organised into multiple paragraphs, but the paragraphing is somewhat illogical and lacks smooth transitions. There is an absence of capitalization at the beginning of sentences (e.g., 'overall, the highly spent...', 'In food, the families spend...'), which distracts the reader. Cohesive devices are basic and repetitive, and referencing is sometimes unclear, such as the pronoun use in 'whereas it is only 4% in 2018 spending'. Although there is a discernible overall structure attempting an introduction, body details, and a brief conclusion, the mechanical progression and lack of cohesive control keep this criterion at a lower band.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate to convey basic data, but it is repetitive and limited. The student relies heavily on simple phrases like 'the families spend' and 'spending in'. There are spelling errors such as 'footware' instead of 'footwear' and 'constrast' instead of 'contrast'. While some less common vocabulary items are attempted, such as 'trend' and 'proportion' equivalents, inaccuracies in word choice and collocation prevent communication from being entirely smooth. The range is minimally adequate for the task.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response shows a limited range of sentence structures, mostly consisting of simple sentences and basic complex constructions. There are frequent grammatical errors and punctuation issues, most notably the lack of capitalization at the start of sentences and after full stops. Additionally, verb tense usage is sometimes inconsistent or awkward when describing past data ('the families spend 35% in 1968'). Errors in prepositional usage and article omission also occur, which cause occasional strain for the reader, though meaning remains generally retrievable.

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

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