Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)
The bar chart gives information about families that how spent their average weekly income in one country between 1968 and in 2018.
Overall, it is clear that the food has increased significantly while fuel and power has reduced slightly in 1968. Similarly, leisure has increased steadily while personal good and fuel and power remain constant in 2018.
On the one hand, In 1968, food rose sharply at 35% of weekly income whereas housing and clothing and footware levelled off which is 10% of weekly income. While leisure, transport, personal goods and household goods remain the same at 8% in 1968 throughout the period. Fuel amd power always declined at 7% in 1968.
On the other hand, leisure increased dramatically in 2018 at 23% while housing has 18% and transport has 14% of weekly income. Similarly, personal goods, fuel and power and clothing and footware has 4%, 5% and 4% in 2018. Food has 17% in 2018.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0
The response addresses the task only partially, as some data points are inaccurate or poorly interpreted. For instance, the student states that 'food has increased significantly while fuel and power has reduced slightly in 1968', which misreads the chart since the data represents two separate years (1968 and 2018) rather than a continuous timeline of a single year. Furthermore, many figures are confused or misreported, such as claiming leisure reached '23%' in 2018 or that items 'remain the same at 8% in 1968 throughout the period'. While an overview is attempted, the confusion surrounding the timeframes and inaccurate comparisons mean key features are not fully or accurately selected and reported.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
There is some organisation evident with the use of introductory and transitional framing such as 'On the one hand' and 'On the other hand', but the overall progression lacks clarity. The logical flow is hindered by confusing temporal relationships and mixed-up data points between the two years. Paragraphing is attempted, but the internal cohesion within paragraphs is frequently faulty or mechanical. For example, referencing words like 'which is 10%' create confusion because the antecedent is unclear. To improve, the writer needs to ensure logical sequencing of data and more precise referencing to guide the reader smoothly through the comparisons.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The lexical resource is limited but minimally adequate for the task. The student attempts some vocabulary related to trends, such as 'rose sharply', 'levelled off', and 'increased dramatically'. However, there are noticeable lexical errors, incorrect word forms, and spelling mistakes—such as 'footware' instead of 'footwear' and 'amd' instead of 'and'—alongside awkward collocations like 'personal good'. The repetition of basic phrasing and inaccuracies in word choice occasionally cause difficulty for the reader and prevent the response from achieving a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The response displays a very limited range of sentence structures, relying heavily on simple constructions and repetitive templates like '[Category] has [number] in 2018'. Attempts at complex sentences are frequently faulty, demonstrated by ungrammatical clauses such as 'families that how spent their average weekly income' and tense confusion (e.g., mixing past trends with present tense verbs like 'has' and 'remain'). Frequent grammatical errors in verb forms, prepositions within structures, and agreement cause considerable difficulty for the reader throughout the text.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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