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)

INTRODUCTION:

This bar chat compares information about the families in one country used weekly income during from 1968 to 2018.

Overview

Overall, people spent many money in food and little used in fuel and power while others was normal in country.

Paragraph 1

Firstly, food is much more bought by families almost 35% in 1968 after 60 years its decline on 17% similarly housing cost in 1968 was 10% but its rises and reached to 18% in 2018. While fuel and power used by some people that lives together was 8% in first year then declined to 3%. while clothing and footware minimize 10% to 5% after this househoild was same situation in both year were 8%.

Paragraph 2

Additionally, personal goods was 8% in first year and 3% in 2018 next families donated cost on transport almost 8% 1968 but came 13% in 2018 at the last leiser was 8% in 1968 its had highest percentage in second year was 23%

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main categories and make relevant comparisons between the two years. The overview identifies food as a major expense in 1968 and notes that fuel and power spending was low; the body also reports the substantial fall in food spending and rises in housing, transport and leisure. Most figures are close to the chart, though fuel and power is given as 8% and 3% rather than about 6% and 4%, and leisure in 1968 is reported as 8% rather than about 9%. The overview is unclear when it says other spending was “normal,” and it does not clearly summarise the key shift from food towards leisure and housing. Make that overall comparison explicit and check figures against the chart.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and two body paragraphs. Grouping food, housing, fuel and clothing together, then discussing the remaining categories, gives the reader a basic route through the data. However, progression within the paragraphs is weakened by long, loosely connected sentences and unclear links, as in “While fuel and power…” followed by another lower-case “while.” Connectors such as “Firstly,” “Additionally” and “at the last” are sometimes mechanical or imprecise, and the overview is separated without a clear transition. Use shorter sentences, group categories by meaningful trends, and use linking phrases that show contrast or similarity accurately.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “decline,” “reached,” “percentage” and “highest,” and you attempt to describe changes rather than simply list figures. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations make the meaning awkward: “families…used weekly income,” “many money,” “more bought,” and “donated cost on transport.” There are also spelling errors such as “bar chat,” “footware,” “househoild” and “leiser.” These issues sometimes make the reader work to understand the intended meaning. Choose precise chart language such as “spent,” “accounted for,” “rose” and “fell,” and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt to combine comparisons and changes in longer sentences, for example when contrasting food and housing, but control of sentence structure is inconsistent. Errors include “This bar chat compares information about the families…used weekly income,” “after 60 years its decline,” and “personal goods was 8%.” Tense and agreement are often inaccurate, and several clauses are joined without appropriate punctuation, as in the final paragraph. These problems can obscure relationships between the figures. Practise writing clear past-tense sentences with a subject and verb for each category, such as “Food spending fell from about 35% in 1968 to 17% in 2018.” Then add comparisons using correctly punctuated clauses.

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