Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The barchart compares the porportion of verage weekly expediture of families in a country across eight different fields in year 1968 and 2018. Overall , the large part of average spending is spent on food , huosing and and leisure activities . however other fields have small share of average weekly expenditure . In detail expenditure on food has decreased by a large amount with a decrease of 15% . The amont spent on housing has showed a good growth ,starting from 10% in 1968 to aproximately 19% . while , the expediture on fuel and cothing nearly have same percentage both have grown with a certain amount relatively . In 1968 fuel was holding 4% with showed a growth and jumped to 6% while clothing commenced with 55 and ends at 10% , household goods fetched equal percent in the two years approximately 8%. Expenditure on leisure activities showed growth by double amount . Transport also followed the pattern like leisure and housing these three showed growth .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response covers all the main features of the chart, comparing spending in 1968 and 2018 across multiple categories. The candidate identifies major trends, such as the significant drop in food expenditure and the rise in leisure and housing. However, there are several inaccurate data reports and misinterpretations based on the factual reference. For instance, the student states that fuel was holding 4% in 1968 and jumped to 6% (whereas fuel was 6% in 1968 and dropped to 4% in 2018), and claims that clothing commenced with 55 and ends at 10% (a severe transcription/reading error). Furthermore, the overview is somewhat inaccurate, as food, housing, and leisure do not constitute the *entirety* of the high spending in a balanced summary way. Nevertheless, the response attempts to address all parts of the task. Band score: 5.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response exhibits some organization, but overall cohesion and paragraphing are weak. The text is essentially split into only two overly dense blocks (or rather, run-on segments with erratic spacing), lacking clear, standard paragraph breaks for an introduction, overview, and body paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used awkwardly or inaccurately, such as abrupt transitions ('however other fields have small share', 'In detail expenditure', 'while , the expediture'). The logical progression is hampered by confused referencing and poorly connected sentences, which makes following the comparisons somewhat difficult for the reader. Band score: 5.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary range is limited and contains numerous spelling and word-choice errors that detract from the writing. Examples of misspellings and flawed forms include 'barchart', 'porportion', 'verage', 'expediture', 'huosing', 'cothing', and 'amont'. While the student attempts less common vocabulary or topic-specific terms like 'expenditure' and 'leisure activities', the high frequency of lexical slips and inaccurate phrasing (e.g., 'fetched equal percent', 'showed growth by double amount') constrains the overall lexical quality. Band score: 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar and punctuation is poor. There are frequent errors in article usage, subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, and punctuation (such as spaces before commas and periods, e.g., 'spending on food , huosing and and leisure'). Examples of flawed grammar include 'Transport also followed the pattern like leisure and housing these three showed growth' (run-on/comma splice) and 'fuel was holding 4% with showed a growth'. These errors occur frequently throughout the text and occasionally cause difficulty for the reader. Band score: 5.0.

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