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 chart below gives information about how families in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018. In this graph,the average money spend by families in 1968 and 2018.First,the most important item is food which cost 35% of total income in 1968 and in 2018 it is reduced to approximately 17% in 2018.Secondly, in 1968 the cost of housing in 1968 is 10% and in 2018 it increases to 19%.Same as fuel and power in 1968 it is about 6% of total income and in 2018 it is reduced to 3%.Whereas, clothing and footware also decrease in 2018 in comparison to 1968.Household goods remains same as 1968 as 7% of total income.Personal goods in 1968 costs more than in 2018 decreases from 7% to 4 percent.Public transport is 8% of total income in 1968 which increases to 13% in 2018.Leisure also increases to 22% of total income.In comparison to 1968, in 2018 the standard of life is good in modern day.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response successfully covers the main features of the chart, reporting data for both 1968 and 2018 across most categories. The student highlights key trends, such as the significant drop in food spending from 35% to 17% and the increases in housing and leisure. However, the overview is weak, consisting of a subjective concluding statement rather than a clear summary of the main overall trends. Additionally, some data points contain minor inaccuracies, such as stating household goods remained the same at 7% when the chart shows 8%. Nonetheless, all parts of the prompt are addressed, supporting a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a coherent overall arrangement and attempts to sequence ideas logically using transition words like 'First', 'Secondly', and 'Whereas'. However, the cohesion is often mechanical and repetitive. Furthermore, the lack of appropriate paragraphing severely limits the structure, as the entire body of the response is presented as a single block of text. Referencing and cohesive devices are sometimes faulty, leading to a choppy flow of information. These issues place the response firmly in Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to proportions, trends, and categories (e.g., 'total income', 'reduced to', 'increases'). However, there are notable word choice and spelling errors, such as 'footware' instead of 'footwear' and 'money spend' instead of 'money spent'. Attempts to use less common vocabulary are sometimes awkward or imprecise, such as the concluding remark about the 'standard of life'. Communication is not impeded, but the lexical control is limited, fitting Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical control is inconsistent. There are several noticeable errors in verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and clause structures, such as 'the cost of housing in 1968 is 10%' and 'Personal goods in 1968 costs more than in 2018 decreases'. Punctuation is also problematic, including comma splices and missing spaces after punctuation marks. While some error-free simple sentences exist, the frequency of grammatical mistakes causes some difficulty for the reader, justifying a Band 5.0.

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