Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-06

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 6.5)

The following chart provides information about how families in a country spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018. The chart showcases various common expenses along with the percent of weekly income they consumed.

Overall, Family spending on food has halved over the years, making this the most drastic change. While, income spent on leisure has dramatically increased.

To commence with, families spent 35 percent of their weekly income on food in 1968, compared to roughly 17 percent spent on food by families in 2018, this necessity has seen a substantial change. Moving forward, 10 percent of family income was spent on housing in 1968, while, the number has reached 18 percent in 2018, marking a significent increase in rent over the years. In 1968, families spent 6 percent of their weekly income on fuel and power, this has slightly reduced to 4 percent. Clothing and footware also has a reduction in spent weekly income, moving down from 10 percent in 1968 to 5 percent in 2018.

Probing ahead, Household goods cost the same percent of weekly income for a family, remaining at 8 percent in 1968 and in 2018. In addition, personal goods in 2018 take up 4 percent of weekly income, as compared to 8 percent in 1968. Transport takes 14 percent of family income in 2018, comnpared to 8 percent in 1968. Furthermore, leisure used to cost 9 percent of family income in 1968, in contrast to a substantial increase to 22 percent weekly income in 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the task by providing a clear overview and highlighting key trends and comparisons between 1968 and 2018. The selection of main features is accurate, noting the dramatic decline in food spending alongside the rise in leisure and housing expenses. Figures are generally cited correctly from the chart, such as food dropping from 35 percent to 17 percent and leisure increasing to 22 percent. However, there is a slight tendency to over-generalise or mechanically list every single category in sequence rather than fully integrating all the data points into a cohesive analytical narrative. To reach a higher band, the response would benefit from more sophisticated categorisation and deeper synthesis of the data trends.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The writing demonstrates a clear overall progression and logical organisation, with an introduction, an overview paragraph, and well-divided body paragraphs detailing the categories. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader through the data, such as 'To commence with', 'Moving forward', and 'Furthermore'. However, cohesion occasionally feels slightly mechanical or repetitive in its transitional phrases. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but referencing could be smoother to avoid a formulaic listing feel. To achieve a higher level of cohesion, the response needs to employ more fluid and sophisticated linking strategies that weave the comparisons together naturally without relying on rigid signposting.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and functional language to describe changes, such as 'drastic change', 'substantially reduced', and 'marking a significant increase'. However, there are a few notable lexical errors and spelling mistakes, such as 'footware' instead of footwear, 'comnpared' instead of compared, and the awkward collocation 'spent weekly income'. These occasional errors and inaccuracies in word choice prevent the vocabulary score from reaching a higher level. To improve, the writer should focus on precise word formation, correct spelling, and more natural collocations when discussing numerical data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating relative clauses and comparative structures. There are several error-free sentences, demonstrating decent control over basic grammar. Nevertheless, a number of grammatical and punctuation errors persist, such as comma splices ('in 1968, compared to roughly 17 percent spent on food by families in 2018, this necessity has seen...') and incorrect use of commas before dependent clauses ('while, the number has reached'). Furthermore, minor slip-ups in tense consistency and clause integration appear. To reach the next band, the student must eliminate frequent punctuation flaws like comma splices and demonstrate more consistent accuracy across a wider variety of complex sentence structures.

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

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