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 gives informations about the average weekly spending by families in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, in 1968 the food represents the highest proportion, unlike the fuel and power. While, the leisure in 2018 has the biggest share, compared the fuel and power and personal goods, which are less.

In 1968, the food section represent the peak of the share with 35%, then it fall down to 10% for both housing and clothing and footware, the fuel and power stood at about 6%, which is the lowest weekly spending. Wherease the rest, household goods, personal goods, transport and leisure are on the same label of weekly income, between 7 and 10 per cent.

In 2018, an increase of weekly income for leisure with about 23%, followed by both food and housing which are between 17 and 20%, the transport stood at 14%, it decrease on household good which has the same lavel as in 1968, clothing and footware has 5%, both fuel and power and personal goods ranked the last place with a weekly income less than 5%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main contrast: food is the largest category in 1968, while leisure leads in 2018, and you include several relevant figures. However, some comparisons are inaccurate or unclear. In 1968, fuel and power is the smallest category, but in 2018 both fuel and power and personal goods are tied at 4%; describing them as “less” is broadly right, though “ranked the last place” misses the tie. The statement that the remaining 1968 categories are “on the same label” is misleading: their values range from 8% to 10%, rather than being equal. Develop the overview with the major shifts, especially the fall in food and rise in housing, transport and leisure, and report comparisons more precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview and separate paragraphs for each year. This helps the reader follow the broad organisation. However, progression within the detail paragraphs is weakened by long, crowded sentences that join several categories with commas, particularly the 2018 paragraph. Some linking is also awkward or inaccurate: “While, the leisure…” is not a complete contrast, and “Wherease the rest” does not clearly connect to the preceding point. Group categories by increases, decreases and stable figures, and use clear sentence boundaries. This would make the comparisons easier to track and reduce the impression of a list of figures.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant chart vocabulary such as “proportion,” “share,” “followed by” and “weekly income,” and the reader can generally understand the categories being compared. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, including “the food section represent the peak,” “same label,” and “ranked the last place.” There are also noticeable spelling and word-form errors, such as “informations,” “Wherease,” “footware” and “lavel.” Use precise terms consistently—for example, “category,” “accounted for,” and “percentage of weekly spending”—and check spelling and singular/plural forms. More accurate phrasing would make the data description clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some complex structures, including “While…” and clauses linked with “which,” but control is inconsistent, and many sentences contain errors. Examples include “the food represents” and “the food section represent,” where subject–verb agreement is faulty, and “then it fall down,” where the verb form is incorrect. The opening overview fragment “While, the leisure in 2018 has the biggest share” also needs to be joined to a complete main clause. Several sentences run together through comma splices, especially the final paragraph, making relationships between ideas harder to follow. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and agreement, and separate comparisons into complete sentences with appropriate punctuation.

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