Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The diagram below provides information about how families in one country spend their weekly income in 1968 and 2018.

The vertical line gives information about the money spent by people in differrent fields and horizantal side illustrates the percentage of spent sources.

To begin with in 1968 food was the main sector where people spent their money around 35% and minor sector was use of fuel and power by approximately 7%. Housing as well as clothing and footwear area were families spend their weekly income in stabilised form by 10%. Household goods, personal goods and in transport section these parts were levelled up.Overall in 1968 leisure section spend money was around 8% by people.

Secondly we can see that in 2018 families spend most of their weekly income in leisure activity around percentage of 22 and it shown as a major part of the data. Then housing was the second major part were families spent their weekly income approximately 18%. Furthermore food is a third major source of household were weekly income was spend nearly 17%. In 1968 and 2018 in fuel and power sector money spent was at least position around 3% as well as in 2018 personal goods was used by 3% only. Transport region was in use by 13%Again in 1968 & 2018 house hold region has levelled up stabilised by 7%. Finally Cooking and footware sector money spend by families was 5%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student attempts to address the task by reporting several features from the chart, such as the highest spending categories in 1968 (food at 35%) and 2018 (leisure at 22%). However, the response suffers from significant inaccuracies in data reporting (e.g., stating fuel and power was around 7% in 1968 when it was 6%, and housing was 18% in 2018 when it was closer to 19%), and the introductory paragraph inaccurately lifts phrases from the prompt while misinterpreting the chart mechanics ('The vertical line gives information...'). The overview is weak and lacks a clear, cohesive summary of the overall trends, such as the dramatic shift in spending away from food towards leisure and housing. The development of ideas is limited and disjointed, aligning closely with a Band 5 descriptor for Task Achievement.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response is divided into three paragraphs, including an introduction and two body paragraphs, which provides a basic structural framework. However, overall progression is hindered by poor internal cohesion and awkward transitions such as 'To begin with', 'Secondly', and 'Finally Cooking and footware'. Referencing is frequently unclear, and sentences often read as isolated, disconnected facts rather than a logically flowing argument. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of ideas lacks clear organisation, as categories are mixed haphazardly within the paragraphs without a clear thematic structure. These limitations place the response firmly in the Band 5 category for Coherence and Cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The student demonstrates a very limited and repetitive vocabulary range, relying on basic terms such as 'spend', 'money', 'sector', and 'part'. There are numerous lexical errors and unnatural collocations throughout the text, including 'spend sources', 'stabilised form', 'levelled up', and 'Cooking and footware' (misspelling footwear). While the vocabulary used is minimally adequate to convey the general topic of the chart, the frequency of word choice errors and lack of less common lexical items prevent the response from achieving a higher band score, resulting in a Band 5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

The response exhibits a very limited range of grammatical structures. Simple sentences predominate, and attempts at more complex structures are frequently faulty and ungrammatical, such as 'Housing as well as clothing and footwear area were families spend their weekly income in stabilised form by 10%.' Punctuation and sentence boundaries are poorly controlled, leading to run-on sentences and missing punctuation marks (e.g., 'Overall in 1968 leisure section spend money was around 8% by people. Secondly we can see...'). Frequent errors in verb tense, preposition use, and subject-verb agreement cause noticeable difficulty for the reader, fitting the Band 4 descriptor well.

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

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