Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-21

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 charts bar compare the weekly income that families in one country spends on eight different categories ind1968 and 2018.

overall, food wa the largest expence in 1968. while leisure became the biggest spending category in 2018f. in addition , families spend a much smaller proportion of their income on food , clothing and fuel in 2018 than in 1968. However, spending on housing, transport and leisure increased.

in 1968, families spend about 35% of their weekly income on food. This figure fell to around 17% in 2018. housingd Housing accounted for 10% in 1968 and increased to almost 20% in 2018. Similarly, transport rose from about 8% to 14%, while leisure increased from around 9% to 22%.

On the other hand, spending on clothing and footwear decreased from 10% to about 5%. Fuel and power also fell from around 6% to 4%. Personal goods dropped from approximately 8% to 4%. Spending on

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by presenting a clear overview and reporting the main features of the 1968 and 2018 data. Key trends—such as the significant drop in food spending from 35% to 17% and the rise in leisure and housing expenses—are accurately identified and supported with correct figures from the chart. Comparisons are made effectively between the two years (e.g., noting that food, clothing, and fuel proportions decreased while housing, transport, and leisure increased). However, the response trails off abruptly at the end with an incomplete sentence ('Spending on'), which constitutes a minor omission. Despite this flaw, the overall response covers the task adequately, meriting a Band 6.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response exhibits a coherent overall arrangement with a logical progression of ideas. It begins with an introductory statement, followed by a clear overview paragraph, and then breaks down specific categories in the subsequent body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'overall', 'while', 'in addition', 'However', and 'On the other hand' are used effectively to link ideas and contrast trends. Paragraphing is attempted, although the physical layout has some erratic spacing issues and the final sentence is cut off mid-thought. Referencing between the figures and categories is generally clear. Because of the good logical flow despite mechanical lapses, this warrants a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully using terms related to data and spending such as 'proportion', 'category', 'expence', and 'figure'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with varying degrees of success (e.g., 'proportion of their income', 'largest expence'). There are some noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'charts bar', 'expence', and repeated tense shifts like 'families spend' instead of 'spent' when referring to 1968 data. Furthermore, the word 'housingd' contains a typographical error. These lexical slips do not impede overall communication, placing the response firmly at a Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and comparative structures (e.g., 'families spend a much smaller proportion of their income on food... than in 1968'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding verb tense consistency in past contexts ('families spend about 35%' instead of 'spent') and capitalization lapses at the beginning of sentences and paragraphs (e.g., 'overall, food wa...'). Punctuation and spacing errors are also noticeable. While these errors occur regularly, they rarely impede communication because the data remains understandable. This performance aligns with the Band 5.5 descriptors.

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