Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-11

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 6.0)

The chart beneath provides data about weekly expenditures of households in a particular country in two different years.

Overall, in the earlier year, a large proportion of income was spent on food, clothing and footware. Housing, Leisure and transportation expenses are much higher in the recent year. Amount spent on fuel, power, personal goods are relatively less different. Whereas the expense of household goods is the same in both years.

The most noticebale feature is the proportion of money spent on food. Which was nearly 22 percent in 2018, while 35 percent in 1968. Money spent on leisure consitutes around 24 percent in the year 2018, which is comparitively higher from year 1968, where it was under 10 percent in 1968. Hosuing also accounted high amount of money in 2018 i.e. approximately 19 percent.

Transportaion expense is also increased from around 8 percent in 1968 to nearly 14 percent in 2018. Families spent 5 percent more on clothing and footwear in year 1968. Household expenses remained same in both years i.e. around 7 percent. Fuel, power and personal goods accounted for higher proportion in year 1968.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You provide a clear overview of the main shifts: food takes a much smaller share in 2018, while housing, leisure and transport take larger shares, and household goods remain stable. You also select several relevant figures, including food at 35% in 1968 and housing at about 19% in 2018. This covers the task well and shows some comparison, but a few details are inaccurate or unclear: food in 2018 was about 17%, not nearly 22%, and leisure was about 22%, rather than 24%. The statement that clothing spending was “5 percent more” in 1968 is ambiguous; the chart shows 10% versus 5%. To strengthen the response further, report the smaller categories precisely and make the overview’s comparisons more exact.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details about food, leisure, housing and the remaining categories. This gives the reader a coherent overall arrangement. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes weakened by abrupt or unclear links. For example, “The most noticeable feature is the proportion of money spent on food. Which was…” incorrectly separates the relative clause, while “Whereas the expense of household goods…” is left as a fragment. The overview also groups several categories together without a clear order, and the final sentence repeats the earlier comparison of fuel and personal goods. Use complete sentences, organise the details into clear comparison groups, and use linking expressions selectively so relationships are easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “proportion,” “accounted for,” “expenditures” and “remained the same.” These choices help communicate the main comparisons, and the meaning is generally clear. However, spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision: “noticebale,” “consitutes,” “comparitively,” “Hosuing” and “Transportaion” are misspelled, while “higher from” is an awkward comparison. “Household expenses” is also less precise than the chart’s category, “household goods.” Aim for accurate spelling and natural collocations, and use consistent category names. A more controlled range of comparison language would also help distinguish increases, decreases and unchanged proportions.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, and most of the intended comparisons can be understood. However, some sentence-boundary and clause-structure errors remain. “The most noticeable feature is the proportion of money spent on food. Which was…” begins a fragment, and “Whereas the expense of household goods is the same in both years” is also incomplete as a standalone sentence. In “Families spent 5 percent more on clothing and footwear in year 1968,” the comparison structure does not clearly express the chart’s figures. Articles and tense are also inconsistent, as in “in year 1968” and “is the same” when describing past data. Connect dependent clauses to complete sentences and check tense, articles and comparative structures.

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