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 chart illustrates the weekly spending and income of different families in one nation in 1968 and 2018.
Overall, there are several things where families spend their wealth weekly. However Food,Housing, and Leisure dominate the chart over period of time while other things slightly increase with a steady flow time by time. Units are measure in percentage %.
Initially, at 1968 food dominate the graph and reach his peak value 35% but fall after 2018 moreover housing does not take a good start but end up at almost 20% in 2018. Futhermore leisure start normally at 10% and reach 25% in 2018. Transport starts with 10% but did not perform well and end up at 15%. Household goods remain same from 1968 to 2018 clothing and footware start at 10% but slump to half of it which is 5% personal goods are same like clothing which start good but dip to its half. At last fuel and power remain the least spended unit from 1968 and 2018 which start with 5% but tumble below 5%.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The student attempts to cover the main features of the chart, noting changes in spending between 1968 and 2018. However, there are notable inaccuracies and omissions in the data reporting. For instance, the student states that transport started with 10% and ended at 15% (the chart shows 8% and 14% respectively), and misinterprets household goods remaining 'same' when they actually held steady at 8%. The overview attempts to capture broad trends (Food, Housing, and Leisure dominating), but overall the development is hindered by imprecise data selection and slight misinterpretations of the figures. This places the response comfortably at Band 5.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The text is organized into three paragraphs, including a brief introduction and an overview. However, the logical progression is weak due to a lack of clear cohesive devices and poor sentence linking. Phrases like 'At last' and 'Futhermore' are used awkwardly, and the transitions between data points feel mechanical and list-like rather than analytically structured. Paragraphing is rudimentary, with almost all body details crammed into a single block of text. Referencing is sometimes unclear, such as 'personal goods are same like clothing which start good'. This level of organisation aligns with Band 5.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is basic and repetitive, heavily relying on simple verbs and adjectives such as 'dominate', 'start', 'reach', and 'end up'. There are several spelling and word-form errors, including 'Futhermore', 'spended', and 'footware'. Collocations are sometimes unnatural, such as 'does not take a good start'. While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey basic trends, the frequent lexical errors and lack of sophisticated phrasing restrict the score to Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The student demonstrates a very limited range of sentence structures, relying mostly on simple and flawed complex sentences. Punctuation is weak, notably with run-on sentences and missing capitalization or commas (e.g., 'clothing and footware start at 10% but slump to half of it which is 5% personal goods are same like clothing...'). Grammatical errors are frequent, including tense inconsistencies ('at 1968 food dominate') and subject-verb agreement issues ('personal goods are same'). These persistent errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect Band 5 descriptors.
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