Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The graph illustrates the comparison of average weekly earnings by families in 1968 an 2018 in a country.

Overall, it can be seen that in 1968 most of the salries were going towards buying food whereas, other amneties like housing , clothing, personal goods, transport and lesure took almost equal amount of income. In 2018,public was genrally spending most of its money on leisure, followed by housing and food.

It is evident from the information collected that the prices of housing has increased imensly over the years and citizens had to compromise on other needs in their life. In 1968 housing took 10% of the income in an average household where as in 2018, it almost doubled to 20%. People now are also prioritizing to spend on leisure and giving away more than 20% of their weekly earnings on this. People were pending 35% of their income on groceries and in comparison only half of it is required to spend in the whole week.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response covers the main features of the chart well, providing a clear overview comparing 1968 and 2018. Key trends such as the drop in food spending from 35% to 17% and the rise in housing and leisure are correctly highlighted and supported with accurate data from the visual. The writer makes relevant comparisons between the two years, fulfilling the core requirements of Academic Task 1. However, there is a minor omission in fully detailing all categories, though selecting the most significant features is appropriate for this task type. Overall, the information is well-selected and grounded in the factual reference, resulting in a solid performance for this criterion.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a clear overall progression, starting with an introductory overview and moving into specific data comparisons. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'Overall', 'In 2018', and 'In comparison', which help guide the reader through the text. However, paragraphing is somewhat inadequate, as the entire body of the report is combined into a single dense block instead of being separated into logical topical paragraphs. Referencing is mostly clear, though some transitional links feel slightly mechanical. Improving paragraph structure would significantly enhance the overall readability and cohesion of the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'prioritizing', 'compromise', and 'imensely' (intensely). However, there are several noticeable spelling errors ('salries', 'amneties', 'lesure', 'imensly', 'pending' instead of spending) and minor word-choice inaccuracies. While communication is not heavily impeded, these lexical slips and occasional awkward phrasing prevent the response from achieving a higher band. To improve, the student should focus on accurate spelling and expanding the use of precise comparative vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response employs a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'It is evident from the information collected that...' and 'People now are also prioritizing to spend on leisure...'. There is good control over basic sentence structures, but several grammatical errors and awkward prepositions appear throughout the text, including 'earnings by families' instead of 'earnings of families' and missing articles. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but minor structural awkwardness persists. The errors do not impede overall communication, but they occur frequently enough to place this response firmly in the Band 6 range.

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