Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-22

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 given bar chart illustrates the comparison between the consumption of weekly earning in 1968 with the year 2018 by various households covering 6 different aspects including groceries, accomodation, gasoline and power, amenities to wear, home goods, private essentials, transportation medium and free time activities.

It has been observed that traditional people spent almost 35% of their income on food items followed by housing and clothing and footware taking 10% of the sum. However, in 2018 they prefer to spend around 23% of their earnings on various leisure activities followed by 18% on houses while 17% on their eatables. Similarly, percentage for the personal belongings and fuel and power has remained same accounting 4% only in 2018 while opposite has been seen in the earlier times when people spent more on these things.

Furthermore, leisure, transport, fuel and power, and goods for the household seems to be a priority for them to lean on. Comparatively, nowadays individuals like spending more on such things except household items which has remained same over time at 8%. This shows a significant variation in opinions and choices with the progression of time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student covers most of the key features of the chart, successfully identifying the most significant trends such as the decline in food spending and the rise in leisure spending between 1968 and 2018. An overview is present at the beginning of the second paragraph, contrasting past and present priorities. However, there are some inaccuracies in the data reporting; for example, the student states that housing took 10% in 1968 (which is correct) and 18% in 2018 (close to the actual 19%), but misreads some percentages (e.g., claiming leisure was 23% in 2018 when the chart shows roughly 22%, and mentioning personal belongings accounted for 4% in 2018 while missing some exact comparative figures). Despite these minor data inaccuracies, the main trends are adequately captured, earning a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response is structured into three paragraphs, moving from an introduction to body paragraphs discussing specific spending categories and overall shifts. Cohesive devices such as 'However', 'Similarly', and 'Furthermore' are used to connect ideas, though some transitions feel slightly mechanical or forced (e.g., 'traditional people' and 'lean on'). Paragraphing is generally logical, with the introduction outlining the scope, the second paragraph detailing specific percentages, and the third summarizing broader priorities. Referencing is mostly clear, though occasional vagueness in pronoun use slightly disrupts the flow. Overall, the organization meets the criteria for Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common synonyms such as 'consumption', 'groceries', 'accomodation', and 'eatables'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation issues ('traditional people' instead of 'people in the past', 'amenities to wear', and spelling slips like 'accomodation' with one 'm'). Furthermore, repetition of phrases like 'remained same' limits the lexical score. While communication is not impeded, the frequent inaccuracies in collocation place this firmly in the Band 6.0 category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and introductory dependent clauses. However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the response, such as 'The given bar chart illustrates the comparison between the consumption of weekly earning in 1968 with the year 2018' (preposition error) and 'percentage for the personal belongings... has remained same accounting 4% only' (missing articles and awkward participle phrasing). While these errors do not impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the response from achieving a higher band, making Band 6.0 appropriate.

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

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