Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The provided bar chart illustrates the proportion of weekly income spent on distinct categories in the years 1968 and 2018.

Overall, majority of the categories had a fall in the percentage of public's spending in a period. People mostly preferred to spend their more proportion of earnings in food, leisure, housing and transport. However, personal goods, fuel and power had the least percentage of spending from their weekly income.

Looking at the majority proportion, in 1968, people sued to spend 35% of their weekly income on food and this feagures are reduced to nearly half in 2018. However, there was only 10 % of income was goes into housing, which was nearly doubled in the latest year. Similarly, leisure was reported for approximately 9% of weekly income and it was surged by around 23% of their weekly income, which is the major rise in the proportion of spending.

Furthermore, household products has the constant proportion of less than 10% remained stable even after 50 years. People used to spent more percentage of their income in fuel and clothing footware than 2018, which was less than 10% for fuel and one-tenth propertion in the clothings. Similarly, they used their 16% of their income in personal goods, which is reduced to less than 10% in 2018. Lastly, there are more percentage of spending in transport sector, which is 7% and 14 in 1968 and 2018 respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the chart’s subject and provide an overview, then compare several important categories. The strongest reporting is the fall in food spending from 35% to about 17%, and the rises in housing and leisure; you also correctly note that household goods stayed at 8% and transport increased. This covers the main pattern well. However, the overview is not fully accurate: it says most categories fell, although housing, leisure and transport rose, while household goods was unchanged. Some figures are also substantially misreported: personal goods was 8% in 1968, not 16%, and clothing was 10%, not one-tenth as a share of the total in the way the sentence suggests. More precise selection and checking of all comparisons would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and two detail paragraphs. The sequence from the larger categories to the remaining categories is generally understandable, and linking expressions such as “However,” “Similarly” and “Furthermore” help signal comparisons. At times, though, the organisation is less clear because the overview groups categories inaccurately, and the final paragraph moves through several figures without a consistent comparison pattern. Phrases such as “Looking at the majority proportion” do not clearly introduce the information that follows, while repeated “Similarly” and “However” can feel mechanical. Grouping increases, decreases and stable figures more deliberately, and using clearer references to the years, would make progression easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of topic vocabulary, including “proportion,” “weekly income,” “remained stable” and “surged,” and the reader can generally understand the intended comparisons. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “public’s spending,” “spend their more proportion,” “majority proportion” and “the latest year.” There are also spelling and word-form problems, including “feagures,” “propertion” and “clothings,” which reduce precision. Some expressions are unnecessarily elaborate where a direct chart description would be clearer. Aim for accurate, natural phrases such as “share of weekly income,” “rose to” and “fell to,” and check spelling and category names carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “which” and “However,” and the overall meaning is usually recoverable. However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence construction occur often enough to make some comparisons difficult to read. For example, “there was only 10% of income was goes into housing” combines incompatible structures, while “household products has the constant proportion” has an agreement error. “People used to spent” also uses the wrong verb form, and “this figures are reduced” has a number mismatch. Practise building comparisons with a clear subject and verb—for example, “Housing accounted for 10% in 1968, rising to 19% in 2018”—and proofread each sentence for agreement and tense.

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