Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-07

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)

This bar charts illustratres comparison on expenditure of the families weekly income for their necessities in 1968 and 2018 of a random country.

Overall, spendings in 1968 were higher in general with comaprison to 2018. Food, housing, clothing and footware had major expenditure in 1968, whereas in 2018 lesiure, housing and transport reflects the main categories for the spendings.

Food in 1968, had highest spending with 35%, and reached to 18% with drastic fall by 2018. Household goods remains same in both years at 8%, whereas fuel and power, clothing and footware, personal goods had a margnal decrease of roughly 3%,5% and 2% respectively.

On the other hand, lesiure, housing and transport expenditure in 1968 were, 8%,10% and 7% approximately, which rose significantly by 2018 at 22%, 18% and 14% respectively.

In conclusion, families were spending largest share of their income on food in 1968, which changed to lesiure in 2018. In contrast fuel and power had the lowest spendings in both year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The response identifies the main shift clearly: food is the largest category in 1968, while leisure leads in 2018, and it notes that household goods stayed unchanged. It also selects several useful comparisons, including the rise in housing and transport and the fall in food. Most figures are close to the chart, though the 1968 leisure figure is given as 8% rather than about 9%, and transport as 7% rather than about 8%; these are small discrepancies. The overview is relevant, but saying spending was “higher in general” is too broad because the chart shows proportions of weekly income, not total spending. More precise framing and a little more care with the overview would strengthen an otherwise well-focused summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, two paragraphs comparing categories, and a concluding summary. The progression from the 1968-leading categories to those that rose by 2018 is easy to follow, and phrases such as “whereas” and “On the other hand” help signal contrasts. However, the conclusion largely repeats the overview rather than adding a useful final comparison, and the transition into “On the other hand” is slightly awkward because the paragraph continues the same year-to-year comparison. Some sentence punctuation also interrupts the flow, as in “Food in 1968, had highest spending.” More natural linking and tighter paragraph-level progression would make the organisation feel more controlled.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses relevant chart vocabulary, including “expenditure,” “share,” “categories,” “rose significantly,” and “drastic fall,” so the reader can understand the comparisons. However, the range is limited by repeated use of “spending” and “expenditure,” and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate: “spendings,” “random country,” and “had a marginal decrease” are not natural in this context. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “illustratres,” “comaprison,” “lesiure,” and “margnal,” which reduce precision. Aim for accurate, natural collocations and check spelling carefully; this would allow the relevant vocabulary you already use to communicate more fluently.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response attempts a range of sentence forms, including a contrast clause with “whereas” and a sentence beginning “On the other hand,” but control is inconsistent. Errors include subject–verb agreement in “leisure, housing and transport expenditure … were,” and the construction “Food in 1968, had highest spending” has misplaced punctuation and lacks an article before “highest.” The opening sentence also has an unclear grammatical structure, while “Household goods remains same” has an incorrect verb form and missing article. These problems do not prevent the reader from following the main comparisons, but they make several sentences less accurate and natural. Practise building clean comparison sentences and checking agreement, articles, and punctuation.

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