Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-09

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 4.0)

The ber chart illustrates information and estimat about how families delivered their weekly income in one country in 1968 and in 2018. Overall, it can be clearly seen the highest income use in food and next was housing. they followed their other income used in fuel and power, clothingand footware, household good, persanol good, and transport they used less income. while many people was leisure over the period,

In detail, in 1968 the highest used in weekly was food many people like food and next was use money in housing because every people need a house while significantly expenditures was fuel and

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies the chart’s topic and attempts an overview, but it does not adequately summarise the main features. The claim that food was the highest category in 1968 is accurate, yet the overview says housing was next without comparing the two years, and “while many people was leisure over the period” is unclear. The chart shows a major shift: food fell from about 35% to 17%, while leisure rose to about 22% and became the largest category in 2018. The detail paragraph stops mid-sentence and gives no usable comparisons for 2018 or most categories. The response is also 48 words below the required minimum, leaving too little development to fulfil the task. Select key rises and falls, report approximate figures, and complete the summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the response into an overview and a detail paragraph, and phrases such as “Overall” and “In detail” signal these sections. However, the ideas do not progress clearly: the overview lists categories without explaining their relative changes, and the detail paragraph ends abruptly at “fuel and”. The sequence “they followed their other income used in…” is difficult to follow, while “while” introduces a contrast that is not completed. As a result, connections between points are often unclear rather than forming a coherent comparison of the two years. Use one paragraph for the overall trends and another for grouped comparisons, with clear links such as “by contrast” and “whereas,” and ensure each sentence is complete.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses some relevant chart vocabulary, including “weekly income,” “highest,” “housing,” and “expenditures,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, word choice and spelling errors frequently make the meaning unclear: “ber chart,” “estim at,” “delivered their weekly income,” “clothingand footware,” and “persanol good.” Several phrases are also unnatural for describing data, such as “highest used in weekly” and “people like food.” Aim for precise terms such as “bar chart,” “accounted for,” “proportion,” and “spending,” and check spelling and plural forms. A wider set of accurate comparison verbs would help describe the chart’s changes more clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts both simple and more extended sentences, including “Overall, it can be clearly seen…” and a sentence beginning “because,” but control is inconsistent. Errors in sentence structure and agreement include “it can be clearly seen the highest income use” and “many people was leisure”; the latter also leaves the intended meaning uncertain. The sentence beginning “In detail” runs into an unfinished clause, ending with “fuel and,” and punctuation and capitalisation are unreliable, as in the lowercase “they” after a full stop. These problems make several statements difficult to interpret. Build complete sentences around a clear subject and verb—for example, “Food accounted for the largest share in 1968”—and check agreement, clause boundaries, and sentence endings.

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