Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-25

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 6.0)

The bar chart illustrates data about how families in a country spent their weekly income in 1968 as compared to 2018.

Overall, it is clearly indicated that food accounted the most in 1968 representing 35%, while in 2018 leisure represented the most amount of weekly expense neraly 22.5%. However, fuel and power showed the least amount of expense in 1968, while personal goods illustrated smallest proportion in 2018.

To start with, in 1968 and 2018 highlighted figures were recorded to be food and leisure respectively. Moreover, in 1968 people spend moderate amount of their salary on housing, while after half a century it rose with a significant change. Additionally, transport was the thing that also indicated a huge change from 1968 to 2018. It rose from 7.5% to almost 14.5%.

Furthermore, people in 1968 focused on clothing and footware than people in 2018 showing a fall from 10% to 5%. Likewise, personal goods also represented same movement falling from 8% to 4%. However, household goods was the single thing that remained stable throughout the whole period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The student covers all parts of the task well, successfully reporting the main features of the chart comparing weekly spending in 1968 and 2018. An overview is present, highlighting food as the highest expense in 1968 and leisure in 2018. Key comparisons and trends are adequately supported with accurate data from the visual (e.g., food falling from 35% to 17%, leisure rising to 22.5%, and household goods remaining stable). However, there are minor instances of slight data imprecision, such as reading leisure as 22.5% rather than 22%, but overall the information is well selected and accurate, meeting the criteria for Band 7.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear logical organisation and progression throughout. Information is divided into a suitable introduction, overview, and body paragraphs that group related categories together. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as 'To start with', 'Moreover', 'Additionally', and 'Furthermore', though some transitions feel slightly mechanical. Paragraphing is used appropriately to structure the comparison between the two years, demonstrating clear overall progression fitting a Band 6.5 to 7.0, with Band 7 best reflecting the clear structural division.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common collocations and descriptive phrases such as 'accounted the most', 'moderate amount of their salary', and 'remained stable'. However, there are several lexical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'accounted the most' instead of 'accounted for the highest proportion', 'neraly' (spelling error), and 'footware' (spelling error). While these do not impede communication, the persistent errors and limitations in precision prevent the score from reaching a Band 7.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and introductory dependent clauses successfully. There are, however, several grammatical errors throughout the response, such as 'food accounted the most in 1968 representing 35%', 'people in 1968 focused on clothing and footware than people in 2018', and missing prepositions or incorrect verb forms (e.g., 'people spend' instead of 'people spent'). These errors occasionally cause mild strain for the reader, though communication remains clear overall, aligning well with a Band 6.

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