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)

The bar chart compares the breakdown of weekly income spent in percentage form, by average households in years of 1968 and 2018.

Overall, it can be noticed that food expenses remained the core spendings by households in 1968. Whilst this has changed entirely, as in 2018 the major portion of weekly incomes of average families goes into leisure expenses.

Firstly, as far as food expenses are concerned, so in 1968 they contributed 35% of weekly income for average family, but in 2018 this percentage spending has dropped to 17% only.

Moreover, housing costs back then accounted for 10% of weekly incomes, but 50 years later this spending proprtion has rose significantly reaching 18% approximately.

Secondly, Fuel and power spendings as part of weekly incomes has dropped by minor proportion of almost 1% of weekly incomes at times, after 50 years.

Furthermore, clothing and footware spendings, and the personal goods expenses against the weekly incomes earned by average households, show the similar trend of reduced proprtion from 10% to 5% for apparel, and 8% to 4% for personal products, post 50 years. Sunsequently, the household goods spendings can be seen to have accounted equal part of weekly earnings of a family in both the years considered, at 7.5% approximately.

Lastly, the trasnport spendings agianst the weekly incomes earned were at nearly 8% in 1968, but 50 years past this proportion has increased dramatically to 14% roughly. Apart from this noticeable change, the leisure spendings accounted 9% approximately in 1968, but by 2018 this percentage has jumped up considerably to nearly 23%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 8.0

The response selects the main features effectively and gives a clear overview: food was the largest category in 1968, while leisure became the largest in 2018. It also reports the key shifts accurately, including food falling from 35% to 17%, housing rising from 10% to about 19%, and leisure increasing from 9% to roughly 22%. The comparisons for clothing, personal goods, transport and household goods are also relevant and generally consistent with the chart. The fuel-and-power change is described as small, which captures the trend, though stating the figures (6% to 4%) would make this comparison more precise. Overall, the task is covered well, with only minor imprecision in a few reported values and descriptions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and three paragraphs grouping related categories. Sequencing expressions such as “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “Lastly” help readers follow the comparisons, and the main points progress logically. This meets the lower-band expectation of coherent overall arrangement. However, the repeated sequencing markers make the organisation somewhat mechanical, while “Moreover,” “Furthermore,” and “Apart from this” sometimes connect details without showing a precise relationship. The long final paragraph also combines transport and leisure without a clear internal distinction. To strengthen progression, group categories by rising and falling shares, use more specific links between comparisons, and make paragraph divisions reflect those groups.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

There is an adequate range of vocabulary for describing the chart, including “accounted for,” “contributed,” “dropped,” “increased,” and “remained.” These choices communicate the main trends, and the writer attempts more formal phrasing such as “major portion” and “noticeable change.” However, several expressions are unnatural or imprecise: “core spendings,” “spending proprtion,” and “weekly incomes earned” are not idiomatic in this context. There are also spelling errors, including “footware,” “Sunsequently,” and “trasnport,” alongside repeated use of “spendings.” Prefer standard collocations such as “share of weekly income,” “expenditure on,” and “rose/fell to.” This would make the vocabulary more accurate and natural while retaining the useful range already shown.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response uses a mix of simple and complex forms, including contrast clauses with “but” and a subordinate clause beginning “as far as food expenses are concerned.” Most meanings remain clear, and the comparisons are generally easy to understand. Some grammatical errors nevertheless recur. For example, “this spending proprtion has rose” uses the wrong verb form; “Fuel and power spendings … has dropped” has a subject–verb agreement problem; and “the household goods spendings … have accounted equal part” has an awkward article and verb pattern. The opening sentence also has an unclear construction around “by average households.” Aim for consistent past-tense reporting and check agreement, articles, and sentence patterns when using longer clauses. More accurate control of these forms would improve clarity.

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