Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-10

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 5.5)

The bar chart illustrates the data about how households in a country spent their weekly salary in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, Majority of domestic unit spent their salary for food, throughout the period, while personal goods and fuel and power was the lowest goods that families spent their money, In contrast families spent their income equally for household good in both years.

In 1968, Most families spent their weekly income for food and it was 35%, furthermore they spent their salary 10% for their housing. They spent around 6% for their fuel and power and they spent 10% for their clothing and footwear. Domestic units spent approximately 8% from their salary for (household goods, personal goods and transport). Families spent just below 9% for their leisure activities.

In 2018, families spent their salary around 17% for their food, moreover, comparing to 1968 the proportion decreased and families spent money approximately 19% for their housing, although comparing to 1968, household goods were steady in 2018. The highest percentage of families spent their salary just over 20% for their leisure.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the two years and report several relevant figures, including food at 35% and 17%, housing at 10% and 19%, and leisure at just over 20% in 2018. The overview also notes that household-goods spending was unchanged. However, it misidentifies the overall pattern: food was the largest category in 1968, but leisure—not food—was largest in 2018. The claim that personal goods and fuel and power were the lowest throughout is also inaccurate; in 2018, fuel and personal goods were tied at 4%, while clothing was 5%. Several 2018 categories, including transport and clothing, are not reported. A more accurate overview and fuller comparison of the main rises and falls would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction and overview to separate paragraphs for 1968 and 2018. This helps the reader follow the time-based organisation. However, progression within the paragraphs is uneven: the 1968 paragraph lists figures, while the 2018 paragraph gives fewer details and does not systematically compare categories across years. Linking expressions such as “furthermore,” “moreover,” and “although” are sometimes repetitive or do not clearly express the relationship between ideas. For example, “moreover” introduces a comparison about food, and “although” is used before a statement about household goods without completing a contrast. Grouping increases, decreases, and unchanged figures, with clearer links between them, would improve the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary such as “proportion,” “percentage,” “decreased,” and “steady,” and the reader can generally understand the categories being discussed. However, the range is limited by repeated use of “spent their salary” and “families spent,” and several choices are unnatural or imprecise. “Domestic unit” is not a natural substitute for households, while “lowest goods” confuses spending categories with the goods themselves. There are also spelling and form errors, including “footware” in the response and “household good.” Aim for accurate, natural collocations used in chart descriptions, such as “accounted for,” “share of weekly expenditure,” and “remained unchanged.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts some longer sentences using clauses and connectors, but control is inconsistent, and errors occur frequently enough to make parts awkward to read. Examples include “Majority of domestic unit spent,” which has problems with the article, number, and agreement, and “personal goods and fuel and power was,” where a plural subject requires a plural verb. Capitalisation and punctuation are also unreliable: the overview begins “Overall, Majority” and continues with a comma splice into “In contrast.” Several sentences repeat the same basic pattern, limiting grammatical variety. Practise accurate plural subjects, articles, and sentence boundaries, then use a controlled range of comparison clauses, such as “whereas” and “while,” to connect the two years.

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

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.