Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

The chart illustrate the data about how the families in the same country spent their seven days income in 1968 and 2018.

Overall the information shows that family spent their most money on their food is the highest spending on food in ninteen century. Which the weekly income is 35. Fuel and power is the down average spending money is almost 5.

In 2018 housing funds number is 20 very big number compare to the 1968 weekly income is 10. In 1968 families spending most money on the lesiure when the weekly income is between 20 to 25. Additionally todays families spending on lesiure only 9% his income.

Most families in the 1968 they spending more money compare to the present they but clothes and footware, personals goods and also on transport. Related to the 2018 peoples are more clever and today is modern world and his funds raised and they managed it carefully they didn,t wast his income on poor activities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 4.5

The response attempts to address the prompt by reporting information from the chart, but it contains significant inaccuracies, misinterpretations of the data, and irrelevant personal commentary. For instance, the student states that families spent 'most money on their food' in the 'ninteen century' and gives the leisure figures incorrectly. The chart shows food spending was 35% in 1968 and dropped to 17% in 2018, whereas leisure rose from 9% to 22%. Furthermore, the final paragraph deviates into personal opinion about modern people being 'more clever' rather than objectively reporting visual data. Key features like the dramatic shift in spending between food and leisure or housing are poorly or incorrectly articulated. Overall, the task is only partially addressed due to data misinterpretation and unsupported evaluation.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 4.0

The essay is divided into short paragraphs, but the logical progression and overall coherence are heavily disrupted by faulty referencing and weak cohesive devices. Sentences like 'Which the weekly income is 35' or 'In 2018 housing funds number is 20 very big number compare to the 1968 weekly income is 10' lack clear grammatical connection to their antecedents and fail to establish clear relationships between ideas. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of information appears random, such as mixing data points with subjective commentary in the concluding section. There is an over-reliance on basic transition words like 'In 2018' and 'In 1968' without maintaining a smooth flow of information.

Lexical Resource — Band 4.5

Vocabulary is limited, repetitive, and frequently imprecise or incorrect. The student uses phrases like 'seven days income' instead of weekly income, 'funds number' instead of percentages or proportions, and 'poor activities' which sounds unnatural in this context. There are also notable lexical gaps and word choice errors, such as 'personals goods' and 'wast his income'. While the student attempts some less common words or subject-specific terms, the frequent lexical errors and inappropriate collocations significantly strain comprehension and reflect a restricted command of vocabulary suitable for Academic Task 1.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 4.0

The grammatical range is extremely limited, consisting mostly of simple, error-prone sentence structures with frequent failure to construct complete or accurate clauses. Examples of severe grammatical errors include 'The chart illustrate the data', 'family spent their most money on their food is the highest spending', and 'peoples are more clever and today is modern world and his funds raised'. Subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, pluralisation, and pronoun reference are persistently flawed throughout the response. Complex sentences are rarely attempted successfully, and punctuation is weak, leading to run-on sentences and punctuation errors like 'didn,t'. These frequent, heavy errors impede communication significantly.

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.