Band 7.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-01

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 7.5)

The bar chart shows the percentage of weekly income spent by families in one country across eight categories in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, household spending experienced notable changes over the 50-year period. Food was the main expense in 1968, but by 2018, housing took its place as the largest spending category. In addition, spending on leisure and transport increased, while spending on necessities like food and clothing declined.

In 1968, food accounted for the highest proportion of weekly expenditure at 35%. However, this figure decreased significantly to around 17% in 2018. On the other hand, spending on housing grew noticeably from about 10% in 1968 to nearly 19% in 2018, making it the highest expense in that year.

For the other categories, transport expenses increased from roughly 8% to 14%, and leisure spending almost doubled from 9% to about 17%. In contrast, spending on clothing and footwear fell by half, dropping from 10% to 5%. Meanwhile, fuel and power and personal goods saw small drops, while household goods remained unchanged at around 8%

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by providing a clear overview and highlighting key trends and comparisons between 1968 and 2018. The main features are accurately reported, such as food being the dominant expense in 1968 before being overtaken by housing in 2018. Data points are appropriately selected to support the narrative, such as food dropping from 35% to around 17% and leisure rising significantly. The position is clear throughout, and the trends are well-extended. To reach the highest bands, the response could incorporate a more nuanced synthesis of the data, perhaps linking related categories or drawing deeper inferences about the overall economic shift across the fifty-year period.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.5

The essay displays a clear logical organization and progression throughout. Information is coherently sequenced, starting with an effective introductory paragraph, moving into a well-crafted overall summary, and then detailing specific categories in subsequent paragraphs. Cohesive devices are used flexibly and appropriately, such as transitional phrases like 'In addition,' 'On the other hand,' and 'In contrast,' which guide the reader smoothly between contrasting trends. Paragraphing is logical and functional, with each paragraph serving a distinct purpose in analyzing the chart. To achieve an even higher band, referencing could be slightly more sophisticated to minimize any mechanical feel in the transitions between data points.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.0

The writer demonstrates a sufficient range of vocabulary with adequate flexibility and precision to communicate the information effectively. Less common items and functional phrasing are employed appropriately, such as 'proportion of weekly expenditure,' 'significant decrease,' and 'take its place.' Collocation is generally natural, and word choices accurately reflect the data trends shown in the chart. Occasional minor inaccuracies in lexical precision exist, but they do not impede communication. To push towards a higher band, the vocabulary could incorporate more sophisticated, less common lexical items and collocations related to economic trends and statistical analysis, moving beyond standard descriptive phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.5

The response features a good variety of complex sentence structures used with frequent error-free sentences. There is solid control over grammar and punctuation, demonstrated through well-formed dependent clauses and accurate comparative structures, such as 'Food was the main expense in 1968, but by 2018, housing took its place as the largest spending category.' Verb tenses are handled correctly to reflect past data, and prepositional phrases are integrated accurately. Minor slips are rare and do not interfere with the clarity of the message. To attain a higher band, the writer could experiment with an even wider range of sophisticated syntactic structures and ensure absolute error-free control across all complex sentences.

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