Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-09-30

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 4.5)

The graph illustrate the data of families in one nation how they exhausted their weekly wages in year 1968 to 2018 Overall , It is seen that the families drained their weekly pays majiorly on food and in year 2018 they exhausted their pays on housing In 1968 the majiority of household drained their weekly wages on food which is 35% further more it get decline after time period of 50 years moreover the families spent their 7 days wages more on housing in 2018 as comire to 1968 move towards the fule and power had little bit decline in the proportion as compier to 1968 as well as household drained their wages more in clothing and foot ware in 1968 but less in 2018 Shifting towards rest of data families drained same persent of wages on household goods moreover the the faimiles exhausted more wages on transport or leisure in year 2018 at last pecentage of personal goods in 5 to 10% in 1968 which decline in year 2018

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response covers the main features of the chart, identifying key trends such as the drop in food spending and the rise in housing and leisure expenses between 1968 and 2018. An overview is attempted in the second sentence. However, the development of ideas is limited, and some data points are described rather vaguely, such as 'percentage of personal goods in 5 to 10% in 1968'. While the candidate attempts to make comparisons, the lack of precise figures and the general lack of data support for several categories place this response at Band 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The text suffers from a major lack of appropriate paragraphing and punctuation; it is essentially written as one continuous block of text with run-on sentences. Cohesive devices are used awkwardly or repetitively (e.g., 'further more it get decline', 'moreover', 'at last pecentage'). Although there is a logical attempt to group information (food and housing first, followed by other categories), the complete absence of clear sentence boundaries and effective paragraph structure results in a disjointed reading experience, justifying a Band 4.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.0

The vocabulary used is very basic and often inappropriate. Words like 'exhausted', 'drained', and 'pays' are repeatedly misused to mean 'spent' or 'wages'. There are also numerous spelling and word-form errors, including 'majiorly', 'comire', 'fule', 'compier', and 'persent'. While the candidate attempts some topic-related vocabulary ('weekly wages', 'transport', 'leisure'), the lexical control is weak, and errors frequently cause strain for the reader, fitting the Band 4.0 descriptor.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.0

Grammatical control is extremely weak throughout the response. The writing lacks basic sentence boundaries, resulting in massive run-on sentences joined poorly by conjunctions. There are severe errors in verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and clause structures (e.g., 'The graph illustrate', 'it get decline', 'families spent their 7 days wages more'). Complex structures are attempted but are consistently faulty. Errors impede communication significantly, placing this performance at Band 4.0.

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