Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-02

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 provide data about hosueholds how to invest money income in deffrent activity in daily life, one country in 1968 and in 2018.

Overall, food and leisure a steady icrease throughout the period. In 1968, the families invest more money on food. While the Fuel and power recorde the lowest inestment.

looking at the details, most families invest money on food rose from 35% weekly icome in 1968 and aproximatly invest 17% weekly income in 2018. families invest money on housing about 19% in 2018 and 10% in 1968. families are less investment in Fuel and power. In clothing and footware people are normaly low invest money about 10% in 1968 and 5% in 2018. Similarly the Household goods should bi same invest Approximately 15% weekly income.

Families invest money in personal goods lead to 5% in 2018 and around 7% in 1968. In trensport, families invest money around 7% in 1968 and about 14% in 2018. The last part is Leisure people invest money about 9% in 1968 and 22% in 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task partially by attempting to cover both years and several spending categories from the bar chart. However, some ideas are under-developed or inaccurately reported. For instance, the overview incorrectly states that food and leisure experienced a steady increase, whereas food actually decreased significantly from 1968 to 2018. Additionally, the data points selected lack clarity and contain inaccuracies, such as claiming household goods were approximately 15 percent when they remained steady at 8 percent. To reach a higher level, the response needs to present a more accurate overview of the main trends without factual contradictions and provide clearer comparisons between the two years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

There is some organisation in the response, dividing the text into an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs detailing the categories. However, there is no clear overall progression, and the logical flow is disrupted by contradictory statements in the overview. Cohesive devices are used in a mechanical or inaccurate manner, such as the repetitive use of 'invest money' and abrupt transitions between sentences like 'The last part is Leisure people invest money about...'. Paragraphing is attempted, but internal cohesion within paragraphs is weak. To improve, the writer should use a wider variety of cohesive ties more naturally and ensure that ideas are sequenced in a clear, easy-to-follow logical order.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary range is limited and minimally adequate for the task. The writer relies heavily on basic and repetitive phrasing, specifically reusing 'invest money' throughout the response when referring to household expenditure. There are noticeable errors in word choice, spelling, and word form, such as 'hosueholds', 'deffrent', 'icrease', 'inestment', 'footware', 'bi', and 'trensport'. These lexical inaccuracies and spelling errors sometimes cause difficulty for the reader. To achieve a higher score, the writer needs to incorporate a wider variety of less common vocabulary relating to data reporting and ensure correct spelling and word forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response displays a very limited range of grammatical structures, and attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing auxiliary verbs, incorrect prepositions, and subject-verb agreement issues, such as 'The bar chart provide', 'Fuel and power recorde', and 'most families invest money on food rose from'. Punctuation and sentence boundaries are also weak, leading to awkward phrasings like 'families invest money in personal goods lead to 5%'. These frequent errors cause strain and difficulty for the reader. To progress, the writer must focus on foundational grammar, accurate verb tense usage, and constructing error-free simple and complex sentences.

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