Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-26
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 the average weekly spending by families in one particular country in two years (1968 and 2018),
Overall, families liked to spend more on food in 1968 compared to other categories but in 2018 they spend more on leisure. The spending on housing and transport increased in 2018. Furthermore, personal goods, clothing and fuel still showed more spending in 1968 than 2018. While household goods remained stable in both years.
Families liked spending on food in 1968 but it decreased significantly in half by 35% in 1968 to become almost half in 2018, whereas leisure increased from 9% to above 20% in 2018. While the proportion of housing and transport also increased, for housing it almost doubled in 2018 by 20%, and for transport it rose from 8% in 1968 to 14% in 2018.
Other categories on weekly spending that were dominating in 1968 but decreased in 2018, regarding clothing and footwear decreased by half in 2018 by 5% compared to 10% in 1968, and personal goods and fuel also decreased. While the household goods remained constant throughout the two years at 7%.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student attempts to address the task by reporting the main features and making comparisons between 1968 and 2018. An overview is attempted in the second paragraph ('Overall, families liked to spend more on food...'). However, there are notable confusions and inaccuracies in handling the data. For instance, the student states that food spending decreased 'significantly in half by 35% in 1968 to become almost half in 2018', which is mathematically confused phrasing. Furthermore, household goods are described as remaining stable at 7%, whereas the chart shows them at 8% in both years. Key trends like the rise in leisure spending overtaking food are mentioned, but the support lacks precision and contains contradictory expressions. This places the response firmly at Band 5.5 for addressing the prompt partially and with some unclear data reporting.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The text is divided into an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs, showing an awareness of standard essay structure. However, logical progression is frequently hindered by awkward phrasing and mechanical cohesive devices. Words like 'Furthermore', 'While', and 'Other categories on weekly spending that were dominating in 1968' are used awkwardly or leave dependent clauses hanging without main clauses (e.g., 'regarding clothing and footwear decreased by half...'). Referencing is sometimes unclear, and the overall flow between sentences feels disjointed. Paragraphing is attempted but internal cohesion suffers from grammatical roughness. This performance aligns with Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, incorporating topic-specific terms like 'average weekly spending', 'categories', 'proportion', and 'constant'. However, the range is limited and repetitive (using 'spend' and 'spending' numerous times). There are also noticeable lexical errors and awkward collocations, such as 'liked to spend more', 'spending still showed more spending', and 'dominating in 1968'. While these do not completely impede communication, they restrict the lexical score. This demonstrates the characteristics of Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'While the proportion of housing and transport also increased, for housing it almost doubled...'. However, grammatical control is weak, leading to frequent errors and structural instability. Many sentences are grammatically incomplete or poorly constructed, containing dangling modifiers and run-on structures (e.g., 'Other categories on weekly spending that were dominating in 1968 but decreased in 2018, regarding clothing and footwear decreased...'). Errors frequently cause difficulty for the reader and obscure the intended meaning. This warrants a Band 5.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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