Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The chart above gives information about how families in one country spent thier weekly income in 1968 and in 2018 . The chart involves various necessities like food , housing , fuel and power , clothing and footware , household goods , personal goods , transports and leisure .

As evident , people in 1968 spent most their money on food , which could be a result of popular uprisings , wars and failure of crops in distinct parts of the globe , adding up to 35 % of a family’s weekly income . families in 2018 spent substantially lesser amounts of money on food , adding up to about 17% of a family’s weekly income. Housing came next , with families in 1968 having to pay 10 % of their weekly income as opposed to the nearly doubled amount of 18 % in 2018 . A major reason could be the population difference between the two years . Next , came fuel and power , which is the section where families least spend their money . With about 6 % in 1968 and 4 % in 2018 . A popular reason for this could be because of war . Next came the fashion side of things , clothing and footware with 1968 edging 2018 with double the amount , from 5 to 10 respectively .

Now comes the more general side of things for a household , the household goods with families in 1968 and 2018 being inseparable in how much they spent with about 8 % each .

Personal goods came next , with families in 1968 having spent more by 3 % coming in at 7 % as opposed to the 4 % of the families in 2018 . Now came transport , which is essential for families , either to go home , school or their place of work . With families in 1968 having spent 7 % and families in 2018 having spent 14 % . Now came leisure , which is importing for adults and children to take a break from their lives with work and school respectively . Families in 1968 spent consistent lesser than people in 2018 , with families in 1968 having spent 9 % and families in 2018 having spent 22 % . This could be a result of the income increase in families , which in turn makes them want to go out shopping more and wanting to eat out more often

Therefore, it can be stated that certain aspects like food , fuel and power , clothing and footware and personal goods remained more expensive in 1968 , housing and power , transport and leisure saw the flip side of things , increasing its cost by 2018 .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student covers all major categories shown in the chart and attempts to make comparisons between 1968 and 2018. However, there are several instances of inaccurate data reporting; for example, the student states that personal goods were '7 % as opposed to the 4 %' whereas the chart shows 8% in 1968, and misreads clothing as dropping 'from 5 to 10 respectively' instead of 10% down to 5%. Furthermore, the student introduces speculative outside reasons for the trends (such as 'popular uprisings, wars and failure of crops'), which is unnecessary and distracts from objective data reporting in an Academic Task 1. There is no clear, distinct overview paragraph summarising the main trends collectively, although some general statements appear at the end.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is organised into multiple paragraphs, but the paragraphing is somewhat erratic and conversational (e.g., beginning sentences with 'Now comes...'). While logical connectors like 'As evident' and 'As opposed to' are used, cohesive devices are sometimes mechanical or overused. Progression within paragraphs is occasionally disjointed because the student attempts to list every single category sequentially rather than grouping major trends logically. Referencing is sometimes unclear, and punctuation around linking words needs better control.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary to discuss spending and percentages (e.g., 'substantially lesser amounts', 'nearly doubled amount'). However, there are notable spelling errors ('thier', 'footware', 'transports', 'importing' instead of important, 'consistent' instead of consistently), along with occasional word choice inaccuracies. Less common lexical items are attempted, but the frequency of spelling mistakes and minor collocation lapses prevents the response from achieving a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

A mix of simple and complex sentence structures is used throughout the essay, including relative clauses and comparative forms ('as opposed to the nearly doubled amount'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement issues ('fuel and power, which is the section where families least spend their money', 'increasing its cost'), fragment sentences, and punctuation errors (unnecessary spaces before punctuation marks). While these errors do not completely impede communication, they occur regularly enough to restrict the score to a band 5.5.

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