Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The bar chart compares the information about how families in one country spent their weekly income on average in 1968 and in 2018, a period of 50 years. The expenditure is categorized in 8 segments, and is measured by the percentage of weekly income.

Overall, in 1968, food was the highest spending sector, while fuel and power was the lowest. After 50 years, the minimum spending still remained to fuel and power category along with personal goods, however, the maximum money was spent for leisure purpose.

In 1968, 30% of the weekly income was spent for food on average, which reduced to about 17% within half a century. Leisure, in contrast, became the highest spending category with almost 23% of a family income during 2018, which was not so popular 5 decades ago. Housing and transport were the moderate spending segments during the both years, though the former was a bit pricey.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The student covers all key parts of the task, selecting and reporting the main features of the chart with relevant comparisons. An overview is successfully presented in the second paragraph, highlighting the shift from food to leisure as the highest spending category. However, there are a few minor inaccuracies in data reading: the student states that food was 30% in 1968 when the chart shows 35%, and leisure in 2018 is stated as almost 23% rather than the approximately 22% shown. Despite these slight misreadings, the overall trends and comparisons are well-developed and fulfil the requirements for an effective summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is organized logically with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraph structure. Cohesive devices such as 'Overall', 'while', 'After 50 years', and 'in contrast' are used effectively to guide the reader through the data and make comparisons clear. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction and overview from the detailed body paragraphs. Referencing is generally clear, and information flows smoothly from one sentence to the next, demonstrating a coherent overall arrangement.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, successfully using terms like 'expenditure', 'categorized', 'segment', and 'proportion' equivalents. There are some minor collocation or word choice issues, such as saying 'minimum spending still remained to fuel and power category' instead of 'remained in the fuel and power category' and 'maximum money was spent for leisure purpose'. Nevertheless, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the main features and comparisons clearly without impeding communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing exhibits a good mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and introductory prepositional phrases (e.g., 'After 50 years, the minimum spending still remained...'). There are some minor grammatical errors, such as 'The bar chart compares the information about how families...' and prepositions like 'spent for food' instead of 'spent on food'. However, these errors do not impede communication, and the majority of sentences are structured correctly, demonstrating reasonable control over grammar and punctuation.

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