Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-03

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 4.5)

The chart below provides us with the information of families in one country that how they spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.

By looking at the given chart,I have understood that the families in their country spent their income very less in fuel and power whereas, they spent their weekly income more in food in both years.

By coming at the bar chart,the families in their country spent their income very less in fuel and power in1968 which is 3%.In 2018, the percentage of spent income is very less in it.In clothing and footware, they spent their 10% weekly income in 1968 and 5% in 2018.In household goods, they spent their 8% income in both years. In personal goods, they spent their 8% income in 1968 and 4% in 2018.In transport, they spent their 14% income in 2018 and 8% in 1968. In leisure, they spent their 22% money in 2018 and 9% in 1968.In food, they spent 35% income in 1968 and 17% in 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

The response attempts to address the task by reporting data from the chart regarding weekly spending in 1968 and 2018. However, the presentation is limited and mechanical. The opening paragraph needlessly copies language from the prompt, and the overview lacks a clear summary of the overall trends, presenting isolated details instead. While some figures are cited, such as leisure increasing to 22% in 2018 and food dropping to 17%, the selection of data is unstructured and resembles a raw list of figures rather than a well-organised summary. To achieve a higher band, the response needs a clear overview identifying main trends and a more synthesised selection of data with appropriate comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The organisational structure of the response is very weak. The text is largely lumped into a single massive, dense block of sentences following a brief introductory sentence, which fails to use paragraphing effectively. Logical progression is missing because the writer jumps haphazardly from one category to another without clear signposting or a cohesive framework. Cohesive devices are basic and repetitive, frequently relying on mechanical repetition of phrases such as "they spent their... in..." which impairs readability. To improve, the writer must organise ideas into logical paragraphs, introduce a distinct overview paragraph, and use a wider variety of cohesive links to show clear progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The vocabulary used is basic, repetitive, and heavily restricted to simple terms directly related to the visual prompts. The writer repeatedly relies on basic verbs and nouns such as "spent", "income", "food", and "money". There are noticeable word-form and spelling inaccuracies, such as writing "footware" instead of footwear. Less common vocabulary is attempted with limited success, and collocation is often awkward, such as "spent their income very less". To reach a higher standard, the student needs to incorporate a wider range of vocabulary, including synonyms and less common lexical items related to data trends, while ensuring accurate spelling and word choice.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The grammatical structures employed are limited and repetitive, consisting almost entirely of simple subject-verb-object sentences like "In clothing and footware, they spent their 10% weekly income in 1968." Attempts at complex or varied sentence structures are absent or faulty. There are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with prepositions and phrasing within grammatical patterns, such as "spent their income very less in fuel and power" and "By coming at the bar chart". Punctuation is also problematic, with missing spaces after commas. To progress, the writer must incorporate a wider variety of complex sentence forms and improve control over basic grammatical accuracy and prepositions.

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