Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The bar chart illustrates the percentage of weekly household income that families in one country spent on eight different categories in 1968 and in 2018.

Overall, food accounted for the largest share of expenditure in 1968, but its percentage fell considerably by 2018. While the spending in housing, transport and leisure increased over the same period, while spending on household goods remained unchanged.

In 1968, families spent high proportional of their weekly income on food, at 35%, before this figure dropped sharply to around 17%. Housing expenditure almost doubled from 10% to nearly 20% over the same period. Similarly, spending on transport rose from around 8% to approximately 14%, while expenditure on leisure increased significantly from around 9% to almost 22%, making it the largest spending category in 2018.

In comparison, spending on fuel and power declined from 6% to 4% Likewise, expenditure on clothing and footware fell from 10% to 5%. while spending on personal goods decreased from around 8% to 4%. In contrast, the proportionof income allocated to household goods remained stable at almost 8% in both years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the chart and making relevant comparisons between 1968 and 2018. The response includes an appropriate overview ('Overall, food accounted for the largest share... while spending on household goods remained unchanged') and highlights key data points such as the decline in food spending from 35% to 17% and the rise in leisure expenditure making it the top category in 2018. Figures are cited accurately based on the visual data. The response meets all requirements for Task Achievement at a Band 7.5 level, showing a clear ability to select and summarise data effectively.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response is logically organised into four paragraphs: an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs covering the main trends. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as 'In comparison' and 'In contrast'. However, there is a minor grammatical flaw in the second paragraph with a dangling contrast structure ('While the spending in housing... increased over the same period, while spending on household goods remained unchanged'). Despite this occasional clunkiness in referencing and conjunctions, the progression of ideas is clear throughout, earning a solid Band 7.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms such as 'expenditure', 'proportion', 'fluctuated' (implied through change), and 'stable'. There are some minor lexical slips and typos, such as 'clothing and footware' (spelling) and 'high proportional' instead of 'high proportion'. Less common lexical items are attempted with some awareness of collocation, but occasional inaccuracies prevent the score from reaching a higher band. Overall, the vocabulary is adequate to convey the message clearly and receives a Band 6.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including subordinate clauses and comparative structures (e.g., 'Housing expenditure almost doubled from 10% to nearly 20% over the same period'). There are a few grammatical errors and punctuation slips, notably a missing full stop followed by a lowercase letter ('fell from 10% to 5%. while spending on...'), a double 'while' in the second paragraph, and a missing space in 'proportionof'. The majority of sentences are clear and communicate the information effectively, leading to a Band 6.5.

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