Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

the bar chart illustrate how the families in one country spent thier weekly income in 1968 and in 2018

according to bar chart individuals in 1968 spending more money on food,fuel and power , clothing and personal goods while in 2018 individuals priorities are change they don't spend too much money on those basic needs only they like to spend more money on more advancement needs like transportation , housing and leisure that's means individuals in 2018 more conventional with the needs that comfort them

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify the two years and recognise a broad shift away from food and some basic categories towards housing, transport and leisure. However, the response only minimally summarises the chart: it gives no figures, does not compare the categories systematically, and omits important patterns such as food falling from 35% to 17%, leisure rising from 9% to 22%, and household goods remaining at 8%. The claim that 1968 spending was higher on fuel and power is inaccurate, since this fell from 6% to 4%. Your interpretation of “more conventional” is also unclear and not supported by the data. The response is 85 words, below the required 150. Include a clear overview and several accurate, selected comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic sequence: it introduces the chart, then contrasts spending in 1968 with priorities in 2018. This gives the reader a general direction, but the ideas are compressed into one long paragraph and one extended sentence, with no clear overview or organised comparison of categories. The transition “while in 2018” signals contrast, but links such as “according to bar chart” and “that's means” are awkward or unclear, and the final point about people being “more conventional” does not follow logically from the figures. Separate the introduction, overview and detailed comparisons into paragraphs, and group categories by whether their shares rose, fell or stayed similar.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “weekly income,” “food,” “housing,” “transportation” and “leisure,” so the general subject is understandable. However, the range is limited and several choices are imprecise or unnatural for describing a chart. “Individuals priorities are change” does not clearly express a change in spending patterns, while “more advancement needs” and “more conventional with the needs that comfort them” are difficult to interpret. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “thier,” and the chart label is “transport,” rather than “transportation.” Use precise reporting language such as “accounted for,” “share,” “rose” and “declined,” and avoid unsupported interpretations of people’s motives.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts to connect ideas using contrast and cause, but the sentence structures are limited and errors are frequent enough to make parts difficult to follow. For example, “the bar chart illustrate” has subject–verb disagreement, and “individuals priorities are change” has an incorrect verb construction. The long second sentence also lacks reliable sentence boundaries and punctuation, making the relationships between its clauses unclear. Articles and sentence openings are inconsistent, as in “according to bar chart,” and the final phrase “that's means” is not grammatically formed. Practise accurate simple comparison sentences first, then combine them with controlled clauses—for example, “Food accounted for 35% in 1968, but its share fell to 17% in 2018.”

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