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 bar chart illustrates how families in one specific country spent their weekly earnings in different categories between the years 1968 and 2018.
Overall, spending on food remained dominant in both years, although it decreased significantly in 2018. In addition, leisure experienced a sharp increase over the course of five decades.
Firstly, in 1968, expenses on food accounted for the largest share than other categories, making up 35% of total weekly income, while this category decreased significantly by about a half proportion in 2018. Furthermore, household goods, personal goods and transport sector remained constant by about 8% in term of spending in a week for the same year.In contrast, fuel and power substituted of only 7% making it least spending in the year 1968.
Similarly, leisure became top spending coming up to 2018, increasing sharply by about 14% in span of 50 years. Moreover, food and housing remained huge category for spending each accounting for approximamately 17% and 19% respectively. Conversely, household goods remained constant in terms of spending in both years.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of weekly spending in 1968 and 2018 and making relevant comparisons. An overview is included in the second paragraph, highlighting the dominant position of food and the significant increase in leisure spending. Key data points are correctly identified, such as food starting at 35% and dropping, and leisure rising to become the top category at 22% (or a sharp increase reported as 14%). While there are some minor inaccuracies in specific figures (e.g., fuel and power in 1968 being 6% rather than 7%), the overall selection and reporting of data satisfy the requirements for Band 6.5 to 7.0. The comparisons made across the decades are accurate and clear.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is logically organized with a clear overall progression from the introduction, to the overview, to detailed body paragraphs. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different parts of the data. Cohesive devices are employed to guide the reader, such as 'Overall', 'Firstly', 'Furthermore', 'In contrast', and 'Conversely'. However, some of these cohesive links and referencing mechanisms are a bit mechanical or slightly awkward, such as 'coming up to 2018' and 'substituted of only 7%'. Despite these minor faults, the arrangement remains coherent throughout, justifying a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, successfully using terms related to economic data and trends, such as 'illustrates', 'dominant', 'accounted for', 'remain constant', and 'sharply increase'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations that detract from precision, such as 'by about a half proportion', 'substitutes of only 7%', and 'remained huge category'. Spelling is generally accurate, but word choice limitations place this performance solidly at Band 6.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms with relative success. Examples like 'The bar chart illustrates how families in one specific country spent their weekly earnings...' show good control of subordinate clauses. However, there are grammatical errors and awkward phrasing scattered throughout, including 'making up 35% of total weekly income, while this category decreased significantly by about a half proportion' and preposition misuse ('in term of spending', 'in span of 50 years'). These errors do not impede overall communication, fitting the Band 6 descriptor well.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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