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 chart represent the data about weekly salary spent by families in single country in 1968 and 2018.

At a fleeting glance, food showed the highest trend in around 40% in 1968.fuel and power showed the smallest trend at around 6% in 1968.Household goods represent the constant income around 8% spent by families in both year 1986 and 2018.In housing,clothing and footware families expenditure 10% of weekly income in 1968.

Moving to the remaining information,In 2018 families spent only 4% in fuel and personals goods.In 2018 leisure showed the highest trend at around 22%.In 1968 families spent same income in personls goods and transport around 7% while in 2018 spending increased significantly at around 14%.In 2018 families expend 16% income in food and 18% weekly income in housing.

Overall, In 1986 food showed the highest trend and fuel showed the smallest trend. In 2018 leisure showed the higest trend.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The student attempts to address the task by reporting several main features and making some comparisons between 1968 and 2018. However, there are significant inaccuracies in the data cited. For instance, the writer states that food in 1968 was around 40% (actually 35%) and mentions conflicting figures for 2018 food and housing in different parts of the text. Furthermore, the overview is extremely brief and lacks proper synthesis of the major overall trends. The response meets the minimum word count, but the numerous data misreadings and under-developed comparisons pull the task achievement score down into the lower band.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response is structured into four paragraphs, including an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. However, the logical progression is hindered by frequent punctuation and spacing errors (e.g., missing spaces after commas and periods like '1968.fuel' and 'information,In'). Cohesive devices are basic and repetitive, relying on standard phrases like 'At a fleeting glance' and 'Moving to the remaining information'. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal cohesion is often faulty due to abrupt shifts between data points without clear links, leading to an overall mechanical feel.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The lexical range is quite limited and repetitive, with frequent reliance on basic phrasing such as 'showed the highest trend' and 'spent'. There are several noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'weekly salary' instead of 'weekly income', 'single country' instead of 'a single country', and 'personals goods'. Additionally, spelling and formatting errors occur frequently throughout the text (e.g., 'footware', 'higest'). These lexical limitations and errors cause some difficulty for the reader and restrict the score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar is weak. There are frequent errors in verb tense and agreement, such as 'The bar chart represent' (instead of represents), 'families expenditure 10%' (instead of expended), and 'families expend 16%'. Punctuation and capitalization are also problematic, with missing spaces after punctuation marks and uncapitalized words in places. While simple sentences are generally understandable, errors are frequent enough to cause distraction and occasional difficulty for the reader.

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