Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-28
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 rendered bar chart depicts the information about how families in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018, income represented in percentage.
At the first glance, it is astonished see that the families give most preference to spending their weekly income in food compairing to other expenditure,while other expenditure do not near that ratio in 1968. Moreover, the least weekly income given to fuel and power which around 7%, Apart from that the other weekly spended goods have nearly 10% but household, personal goods or transport have constant percentage in 1968.
Moving further, it is lucid that the food consumption dropped from 35% to 17% approimately in 2018, while housing spending increased over the period from 10% to nearly 20%. Moreover, leisure spending surged from around 9% to 23%, and become uppermost consuming income expenditure, Apart from that the bottommost spending of weekly income is fuel and power or personal goods, they dropped frequently in the following period.
To sum up, it is crystal clear that the overall trend of the figure is eratic, and food was the most consumed expenditure in 1968 but fell frequently over the period. Furthermore, leisure speending become most preferable expenditure in 2018.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response covers all the main trends shown in the chart, accurately identifying the highest and lowest spending categories in 1968 (food at 35% and fuel/power at around 6-7%) and the major shifts by 2018, such as the drop in food expenditure and the surge in leisure and housing. An overview is present throughout the body and summary. However, there are some minor inaccuracies in data reporting, such as stating leisure reached 23% instead of 22%, and fuel and power was around 7% rather than 6%. Despite these slight misreadings, the writer successfully highlights the key comparisons and overall trends required by the task.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay is logically organized into four paragraphs, following a clear introduction, two body paragraphs covering the respective years and comparisons, and a concluding summary. Cohesive devices such as 'At the first glance', 'Moreover', 'Moving further', and 'To sum up' are employed to guide the reader through the data. However, referencing and cohesion occasionally feel mechanical or awkward, such as 'Apart from that the other weekly spended goods have nearly 10%', which disrupts the natural flow of information. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, body details, and conclusion.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student attempts a range of vocabulary suitable for a data task, including words like 'expenditure', 'consumption', 'surged', and 'uppermost'. However, there are frequent inappropriate word choices and word-formation errors, such as 'astonished see', 'compairing', 'spended', 'eratic' (erratic), and 'speending'. Furthermore, phrasing like 'bottommost spending of weekly income' is unnatural. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general meaning, these lexical inaccuracies and spelling errors restrict the score to a Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including subordinate clauses introduced by 'while', 'as', and relative pronouns. However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with numerous structural errors throughout the text. Examples include missing verbs or incorrect verb forms ('it is astonished see', 'the families give most preference'), missing articles, and preposition errors ('spending... in food'). Clauses are sometimes strung together awkwardly without proper coordination, which occasionally causes difficulty for the reader.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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