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 bar illustrates the how families in one country manage thier weekly income between 1968 to 2018.
Overall, there are eight different things such as food, housing, fuel and power, clothing and footware, household goods, personal goods, transport and a leisure. The food has highest weekly income spent, while fuel and power have least weekly spending.
Leisure, in 1968 weekly income is 8% while, in 2018 is approximately 22%. Similarly, for transport in 1968 is about 7% while, in 2018 is approximately 13 percent. Personal goods, in 1968 is about 8% while in 2018 is approximately 4%. Moreover, Household goods in both 1968 and 2018 is reamined unchange approximately 8%.
Furthermore, clothing and footware in 1968 is about 10%. In contrast, 2018 is approximately 5%. The fuel and power is lowest weekly spending, in 1968 is about 6% while in 2018 is 4%. Moreover, housing in 1968 is about 10% while, in 2018 is 18%. In conclusion, the food is highest average weekly spending, in 1968 is 35% while, 2018 is 17%.
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 address the task by reporting the main features of the chart regarding weekly spending in 1968 and 2018. While most of the key data points are mentioned, such as food being the highest and fuel and power being the lowest, the response lacks a clear, cohesive overview of the main trends. Furthermore, there are several inaccurate data readings, such as stating that leisure in 1968 was 8% (it was 9%) and housing in 2018 was 18% (it was closer to 19%), alongside some minor omissions. The selection of data is mechanical rather than analytical, resulting in an under-developed response that touches upon Band 5 descriptors.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The organization of the text is somewhat disjointed. The student uses a very fragmented paragraph structure, listing individual categories sentence by sentence rather than grouping related trends logically. While there are some basic cohesive devices like 'Furthermore', 'In contrast', and 'In conclusion', referencing and transitions feel mechanical and repetitive. Paragraphing is poorly handled, with most sentences standing alone as single-sentence paragraphs, which significantly disrupts the logical progression of the text and places the response firmly at Band 5.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The lexical range is limited and repetitive. The student relies heavily on basic phrasing such as 'weekly income spent', 'lowest weekly spending', and repeating the structure 'in 1968 is about X while in 2018 is Y'. There are also several spelling errors, including 'thier' instead of 'their', 'footware' instead of 'footwear', and 'reamined unchange' instead of 'remained unchanged'. While the vocabulary is adequate to convey the basic subject matter, the frequency of errors and lack of sophisticated phrasing restrict the score to Band 5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response demonstrates a limited range of grammatical structures, relying primarily on simple statements of fact and repetitive comparative structures. Complex sentence forms are attempted but often faulty, such as in the opening sentence: 'The bar illustrates the how families in one country manage thier weekly income between 1968 to 2018.' There are frequent grammatical errors involving missing prepositions, tense confusion, and word forms (e.g., 'the food has highest weekly income spent' and 'is reamined unchange'). These errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect Band 5 characteristics.
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