Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The table chart illustrates comparison of household weekly income of a nation spent on eight different categories for 1968 and 2018.

Overall, it is immediately clear that food was the most demanding category than any other and least amount was spent on fuel and power for 1968.In contrast, Leasure stood at top for survey held in 2018.

The weekly expenditure of families on food came out to be 35% in 1968. While,fuel and power got the lowest ratio 6%. Household goods,personal goods and transport occupied same 7%. Likewise, housing and clothing and footware contained 8% each. Leasure had a proportion of 9%.

On the other hand, food percentage plummeted to 17% in 2018. Leasure peaked at 22%. Spending on husing and transport also increased to 19% and 14% respectively. Household goods attained the same number 7%. Meanwhile, in 2018 people spent lowest on fuel and power and personal goods their value dropped to 4%. Clothing and footware was slightly above with 5% ratio.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You cover both years and identify the main shifts: food falls from 35% to 17%, while leisure becomes the largest category in 2018 at 22%; housing and transport also rise. This gives the response a clear overview and relevant comparisons. However, several figures are inaccurate: in 1968, household goods, personal goods and transport were each 8%, not 7%; housing and clothing were 10%, not 8%. Household goods remained at 8% in 2018, rather than 7%. These errors affect the precision of the account, and some categories receive only brief treatment. For a stronger response, check each figure against the chart and make the overview’s comparisons more exact.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a coherent overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, a paragraph on 1968 and a final paragraph on 2018. The contrast marker “On the other hand” helps signal the shift between years, and the reader can follow the broad comparison. Cohesion is not always smooth, however. “While, fuel and power…” is an awkwardly attached fragment, and the repeated listing of categories makes the body read more like separate facts than a connected comparison. Some punctuation spacing also interrupts the flow. Grouping categories by whether their shares rose, fell or stayed stable, and using clearer links such as “whereas” and “by comparison,” would make progression more flexible and less list-like.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “proportion,” “plummeted,” “peaked” and “occupied,” and the meaning is generally clear. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “weekly expenditure.” Some choices are inaccurate or unnatural: “table chart” is redundant, “most demanding category” does not naturally describe spending, and “Leasure” and “footware” are misspelled. “Contained 8%” and “attained the same number” are also imprecise collocations for chart data. These issues keep the vocabulary from being consistently precise. Prefer standard reporting language such as “accounted for,” “stood at” and “share,” and check spelling of category labels.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex forms, including the overview contrast “In contrast…” and the sentence beginning “While…”. Most of the information remains understandable, but some grammatical and punctuation errors recur. “The table chart illustrates comparison” needs an article or a different construction, while “food was the most demanding category than any other” has an incorrect comparative pattern. The “While, fuel and power got…” sentence is incomplete, and punctuation is often attached incorrectly, as in “1968.In” and “While,fuel.” There are also awkward sentence structures in the final paragraph. Build complete clauses, use “the highest/lowest share” rather than faulty comparisons, and proofread sentence boundaries and spacing.

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