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 compares the data about homes in one particular country that their weekly expenditure between 1968 and 2018.

Overall, the food accounted for the highest proportion of weekly income,while fuel and power and personal goods recorded the lowest proportions of spending in the same year.Despite this, liesure had relatively the largest proportion of speing in the later year. In addition, expenditure on households good were broadly on the same proportion in both year.

In 1968, food accounted for the highest proportion of weekly expenditure, at 40%, which is the highest among all categories.Spending on the housing and clothing and footwear represented the same proportion of weekly income, at 10%. Just under the 10% of weekly income was spent on houshold good, personal goods and transport. Fuel and power had the smallest proportion, at around 6%.

In 2018, money spent on leisure represented the high proportion of approximately 23%, while fuel and power and personal goods was just under the 5% of proportion, which is the smallest percentage among all spendings. The amount spent on household good was the similar in both years, at around 7%. However, proportion of weekly income that spet on clothing and footware was around 10% only.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You provide a relevant overview and identify several important patterns, including the sharp fall in food spending, the rise in leisure, and the similar household-goods figures. However, some key data are inaccurate or unclear: food was about 35% in 1968, not 40%, and leisure was about 22% in 2018, rather than approximately 23%. The overview also says food was the highest proportion overall, although leisure was highest in 2018. Some comparisons are incomplete: for example, housing rose from 10% to 19%, and transport increased from 8% to 14%, but these changes are not reported. More accurate figures and a clearer overview of the main shifts would make the response more fully informative.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for each year. This makes the information reasonably easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “In addition,” and “However” help signal relationships. Some connections are less clear or repetitive, though. The overview’s statement that food was highest is followed by the contrasting point about leisure, without clearly distinguishing the two years. The final paragraph also moves between leisure, low-spending categories, household goods, and clothing without a strong comparison-based progression. Grouping the largest changes together and using clearer references to each year would strengthen the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a suitable range of chart vocabulary, including “accounted for,” “proportion,” “represented,” and “approximately,” and the reader can generally understand the comparisons. However, several word-choice and spelling problems reduce precision: “homes” does not accurately describe the chart’s subject, “speing” and “spet” are misspelled, and “households good” is not the correct form. Some phrases are also unnatural, such as “the high proportion” and “among all spendings.” Use standard collocations for describing data and check spelling and plural forms carefully. More precise verbs such as “rose,” “fell,” and “remained stable” would also help you describe changes efficiently.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex sentences, including a relative clause in “which is the highest among all categories” and contrastive structures with “Despite this” and “while.” However, errors in sentence construction and agreement are noticeable. The opening sentence is incomplete or awkwardly formed (“compares the data about homes … that their weekly expenditure”), and “fuel and power and personal goods … was” has a subject–verb agreement problem. There are also missing spaces after full stops and commas, and article or plural errors in phrases such as “the similar” and “both year.” Aim to build accurate comparison sentences first, then add complex clauses while checking agreement, articles, and punctuation.

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