Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-04

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 5.5)

The bar charts illustrates the information how families spent thier weekly income on the eight different things in one country.

Overall, the food covers the largest percentage and the leisure covers the biggest percentage in the second year while the fuel and power decreased aslo personal goods fell.

In 1968, the food is the largest part where the families spent largest part of weekly income which is about 35%, housing , clothing and footwear is account for 10%. The fuel and power is followed by 6%.The leisure covers 9% only while the household goods, personal goods and transport covers the same percentage 8%.

In 2018, the food fell to 17% while the housing is rise to 19%. clothing and footware is followed by 10%, the household goods remain unchanged, fuel and power, clothing and footware aslo personal goods are below the 10%. the leisure has significantly increased upto the 22%

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features and making relevant comparisons between 1968 and 2018. The overview successfully highlights key trends, such as food taking up the largest percentage initially and leisure becoming the largest category in the second year. However, some ideas are under-developed or inaccurately described. For instance, the student states that housing "is rise to 19%" and incorrectly claims that clothing and footwear remained at 10% in 2018 when it actually fell to 5%. Additionally, some minor categories are grouped or mentioned loosely. To reach a higher level, the response needs more precise selection and complete coverage of the data without factual inaccuracies in reporting the figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response achieves an overall coherent arrangement with a clear division into an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for each year. Information is generally ordered logically, starting with a general summary before diving into specific data points. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical and referencing is occasionally unclear, such as abrupt transitions between sentences in the body paragraphs (e.g., "The fuel and power is followed by 6%. The leisure covers 9% only..."). Paragraphing is attempted, but internal cohesion within paragraphs lacks smooth signposting or advanced cohesive devices. To improve, the student should use a wider variety of cohesive markers and ensure that sentences flow naturally from one to the next rather than reading like a disjointed list of figures.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully communicating basic trends and categories from the chart. The student attempts less common vocabulary, such as "percentage" and "significantly increased", but this is accompanied by noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and form, such as "thier", "clothing and footware" (spelling), and awkward phrasing like "spent largest part of weekly income". There are also word form errors such as "housing is rise" instead of "rose". These lexical slips and spelling errors do not completely impede communication, but they restrict the score. To progress, the student must expand their range of vocabulary for describing trends and improve spelling and word formation accuracy.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The writing displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting comparative structures and time clauses. However, there are frequent errors in grammar and punctuation, particularly with verb tenses and auxiliary verbs. Examples include "The bar charts illustrates" (subject-verb agreement), "the food is the largest part" (mixed tense control when describing past data), and "is rise to 19%" (incorrect verb form). Preposition usage also shows instability, such as "spent their weekly income on the eight different things". While these errors rarely impede overall communication, their persistence across basic sentence structures limits the grammatical score. Greater control over tense consistency and accurate formation of complex clauses are needed for improvement.

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