Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-05

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 illustration shows about average weekly spending by families in a country between 1968 and 2018. Overall, houshold goods cost remained equal during all time food is the only one which expenditure fell significantly. Leisure, housing and transport are those which expenditure rose over time.

It is quite evident from the bar chart which is between the % of weekly income and daily expences. The food cover the 35% in a week in 1968 and it had 17% in 2018. Housing and leisure both were almost same in percentage between 1968 and 2018. There is only one houshold goods was equal in both during all the time.

Furthermore, fuel and power expensis was high in 1968 which is 6% and it decreased to 4% with the passage of time. However, clothing and foorware expenditure had significant difference decreased 5% with passage of time like that its expenditure was 10% in 1968 and over time in 2018 it remained 5%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the task partially by outlining some main trends in the bar chart, such as the drop in food spending from 35% in 1968 to 17% in 2018. However, the selection of information is limited and contains inaccurate reporting, such as claiming that housing and leisure percentages were 'almost same' between the two years, whereas leisure nearly tripled and housing increased significantly. Furthermore, some statements are contradictory or confusing, such as the assertion that 'household goods cost remained equal during all time' and later repeating this claim. The overview is overly simplistic and fails to fully capture the broader changes across all categories, which restricts the response from achieving a higher band.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The text is divided into three brief paragraphs, providing some basic organisation, but there is no clear overall progression of ideas. Cohesive devices are used awkwardly or inaccurately, such as 'It is quite evident from the bar chart which is between the % of weekly income and daily expences', which creates a mechanical and confusing flow. Referencing is also problematic, as pronouns and transition phrases like 'like that its expenditure was' fail to connect ideas smoothly. While the response can be followed with effort, the lack of sophisticated cohesive links and poor paragraph internal structuring prevent the writing from achieving a higher level of logical flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited and minimally adequate for discussing statistical data. While the student attempts some less common terms like 'expenditure' and 'percentage', there are noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including 'houshold' instead of 'household', 'expences' instead of 'expenses', and 'foorware' instead of 'footwear'. Collocations are also weak, seen in phrases like 'cost remained equal' instead of remaining stable. These lexical inadequacies and frequent spelling errors cause some difficulty for the reader and reflect a restricted lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The grammatical structures used are relatively simple and repetitive, with frequent errors in basic sentence construction, articles, and prepositions. Attempts at more complex sentences are often faulty, as seen in 'The food cover the 35% in a week in 1968 and it had 17% in 2018', where subject-verb agreement and tense consistency are violated. There are also punctuation issues and awkward phrasing, such as 'There is only one houshold goods was equal in both during all the time.' These frequent grammatical errors cause strain for the reader and demonstrate a limited command of grammatical range and accuracy.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.