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 image is the bar graph, which illustrates the information regarding the families of a country spent their average weekly income in the year of 1968 and in 2018.

On the hand, in the year 1986, the maximum expenditure is on the food, which is about 35%, comparatively this unit was low in 2018. After the food people in 1968 usually spent their money equally for housing and clothing and footwear, that is 10% of their income, on the other in 2018 the figure become slightly low for the clothing and footwear at 5% and the demand for housing has increased at approximately 18%.

On the other hand, household goods remains at the same figure for both the years which is approximately 8%. the demand for leisure and transport has raised in 2018 which lands on 22% and 14% respectively. personal goods were slightly high in demand in the year 1968 than in the year 2018 that was about 8% in 1968 and 4%. fuel and power was at 4% in 2018 and 6% in the year 1968.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify several relevant comparisons, including food as the largest category in 1968, unchanged household-goods spending, and increases in leisure and transport by 2018. However, the response does not provide a clear overall summary of the main shifts, and it begins with a general description rather than an overview. Some details are inaccurate or incomplete: the first year is mistakenly called “1986,” food’s 2018 figure is not reported, and housing is given as approximately 18% rather than about 19%. The remaining categories are mentioned, but their significance is not brought together into a clear account of how spending patterns changed. A concise overview highlighting the fall in food spending and the rise in leisure and housing would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has some organisation: it moves from food and housing to household goods, leisure, transport, personal goods, and fuel. The contrast markers “On the hand” and “On the other hand” also show an attempt to connect comparisons. However, the first transition is incomplete, and the second is used without a clear opposing point, so the links can feel mechanical. There is no distinct overview paragraph, and several comparisons are crowded into long sentences, making the progression difficult to follow. Capitalisation after full stops is also inconsistent. Grouping the main increases and decreases into separate paragraphs, with accurate linking phrases such as “By contrast” and “Meanwhile,” would make the information easier to track.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic vocabulary, including “expenditure,” “income,” “demand,” and “approximately,” and the reader can generally understand the categories being compared. However, some choices are imprecise or unnatural for describing chart data. “Demand” is used for spending shares, although the chart reports expenditure, and “lands on 22%” is an unsuitable way to describe a figure. There are also spelling and form issues, such as “footware,” and repeated wording such as “in the year of.” These errors do not prevent the main message from being understood, but they limit precision. Prefer standard reporting expressions such as “accounted for,” “stood at,” and “rose to,” and check category names carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, including comparisons between the two years, but control is uneven and errors occur frequently enough to make some sentences awkward. For example, “which illustrates the information regarding the families of a country spent” has an incorrect clause structure, while “the figure become slightly low” has a verb-form error. The opening phrase “On the hand” is also grammatically incomplete, and “household goods remains” does not agree with its plural subject. Punctuation and capitalisation are inconsistent, particularly where a new sentence begins with lowercase “the” or “personal.” Practise clear subject–verb patterns and use shorter, accurate sentences before adding subordinate clauses.

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