Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The bar chart compares the average spending of weekly income in a country in the year 1968 and 2018.

Overall, in 1968, families spent majority of their earnings on food, followed by housing. Conversely, in 2018, Families spend more on Leisure and housing than any other thing.

In terms of percentage, Approximately 35% of the family earnings were spend on the food in 1968. Similarly, almost 10% of the eearnings were spent on Housing as well as on Clothing and footware. Together, these three accounts to the two-thirds of the total family earnings.

Regarding the spending in the year 2018, approximately 22% of the earnings are spent on Leisure. It is followed by the Housing and food with the spending of around 19% and and 18%. Together, exceeding the half of the total earnings.

The only things that remain unchanged is the percent of spendings on the household goods. The most notable change is the spending behaviour of people in these two years. In 1968, people were spending more towards essentials and neccesseties, whereas, in 2018, people tends to spend more on personal goods and belongings.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response addresses all parts of the task by presenting an overview and reporting the main features of the chart regarding weekly spending in 1968 and 2018. Key data points such as the high expenditure on food in 1968 (approximately 35%) and leisure in 2018 (around 22%) are accurately highlighted, and relevant comparisons are made between the two years. However, some ideas are under-developed or slightly inaccurate; for instance, the claim in the conclusion that people in 2018 tend to spend more on personal goods and belongings is not supported by the data, which actually shows personal goods dropping from 8% to 4%. To reach a higher band, the response needs to ensure that all generalisations and stated trends are fully consistent with the provided visual data, avoiding unsupported claims.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The text maintains a coherent overall arrangement and follows a logical structure, moving from an introductory paraphrase and an effective overall summary to detailed body paragraphs comparing specific categories. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different sections of the analysis, such as the 1968 data, the 2018 data, and concluding trends. However, cohesion at times feels a bit mechanical or faulty. For instance, the transition 'Conversely, in 2018, Families spend more...' uses awkward capitalization, and referencing can be slightly unclear, such as when pronouns or linking phrases connect ideas abruptly. To achieve a higher band, cohesive devices should be used more flexibly and smoothly without drawing attention to themselves, ensuring seamless progression throughout the response.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms related to financial data and categories such as 'expenditure', 'percentage', 'earnings', 'essentials', and 'necesseties'. There are several attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are accompanied by lexical inaccuracies and spelling errors that prevent a higher score. For example, 'footware' is misspelled, 'accounts to' is an incorrect collocation for 'account for', and 'spendings' is used instead of the uncountable noun 'spending'. Furthermore, words are sometimes used with inaccurate forms, such as 'eearnings' and 'tends to spend'. To improve lexical resource, the student needs to expand their control of word formation, spelling, and natural collocations when discussing numerical trends.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating the ability to structure sentences with introductory clauses and comparative phrases, such as 'In terms of percentage, Approximately 35% of the family earnings were spend on the food in 1968.' There are, however, some grammar and punctuation errors present throughout the text. These include subject-verb agreement issues ('Families spend', 'the only things that remain'), passive voice errors ('were spend' instead of 'were spent'), tense shifts ('earnings are spent'), and unnecessary capitalization. While these errors rarely impede overall communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent the grammar score from entering the next band. To reach a higher band, the student must demonstrate better control over verb forms, agreement, and tense consistency in complex sentence structures.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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