Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-08

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 5.0)

The given bar graph illustrate expended of different famelies who spend their weekly income on daily use items in both years.

Overall, the highiest welth who surved on this item in year 1968 is food and in year 2018 the item name is leisure.On the other side the lowest income that is surved on this item in year 1968 is fuel and power and in year 2018 two things are on same ratio. The name of these things is fuel and power and personal goods.

The weekly income who surved up than 15% in year 1958 is only one item but on the other side in year 2018 income surved on three items who up than 15%. And weekly income who spend up to 10% many items are added in this group on both years. And the weekly income who surved on less then 5% in this group only these items are added who belong to year 2018.

The items who are equal to the 10% are only in year 2018 the name of these items is housing,clothing and footware.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify two important extremes correctly: food is the largest category in 1968, while leisure is largest in 2018, and you note that fuel and power is among the smallest categories. However, the response only partially summarises the chart, and several comparisons are inaccurate or unclear. For example, the statement that three 2018 categories exceed 15% is incorrect: only housing, food and leisure do so, but food is 17%, housing 19% and leisure 22%—so this part is correct only if “up than 15%” means above 15; the 1968 reference to “1958” is also wrong. The claim about items equal to 10% in 2018 is inaccurate: housing is 19% and clothing is 5%. Give a clear overview and report the main rises and falls accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has separate paragraphs and attempts to organise information through an overview followed by comparisons. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “On the other side” and “And” show an effort to connect ideas. However, there is no clear progression from the main overview to well-selected details: the third paragraph groups categories by thresholds, then the final paragraph introduces a claim about 10% that conflicts with the chart. Repeated use of “on the other side” and “And” makes cohesion mechanical, while references such as “this item” and “this group” are not always clear. Organise the body around the most meaningful comparisons—for example, the sharp fall in food spending and the increases in leisure, housing and transport—and use precise links between them.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use some relevant chart vocabulary, including “bar graph,” “weekly income,” “ratio” and category names, so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and several repeated or inaccurate expressions make the meaning difficult to follow. Phrases such as “income who surved,” “highiest welth” and “items are added in this group” do not naturally describe proportions or spending. There are also frequent spelling errors, including “famelies,” “welth,” “surved” and “footware.” Use standard terms such as “share,” “proportion,” “accounted for” and “spending,” and check the spelling of the chart labels. More precise vocabulary would help you compare the categories without relying on vague phrases.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt longer sentences and use basic comparison structures, but the range is limited and errors occur frequently, sometimes making relationships hard to understand. For example, “The given bar graph illustrate” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “who spend their weekly income” uses an unsuitable relative clause for families. Several sentences lack clear grammatical structure, as in “The weekly income who surved up than 15%,” and the final sentence has an unclear construction around “equal to the 10%.” Punctuation is also inconsistent, with missing spaces after full stops and commas. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then build comparisons with patterns such as “Food accounted for 35% in 1968, compared with 17% in 2018.”

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

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