Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-12

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 how families in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.

Overall, People mostly spent spare income on food in 1968 as compared to 2018. On the other hand, Housing and leisure dominant in 2018 and had less consumption in 1968. Additionally, Fuel and power, clothing and footware, household goods, and transport almost fluctuate between 8-18 percent.

In 1968, people spent 35% of their income on food and this figure dropped by 19 percent in 2018. Meanwhile, Housing and Leisure consumption in 1968 is round about 8-10% and this figure increased in both by 8-15 percent.

Furthermore, fuel and power, clothing and footware, Household goods, personal good and trasport consumption in 1968 fluctuate between 7-10 percent and in 2018 these all things fluctuate between 4-13 percent

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the chart’s subject and include a relevant overview: food was the largest category in 1968, while housing and leisure were prominent in 2018. You also report the food figure accurately at 35%, but the change is described as a 19-percentage-point drop rather than clearly giving the 2018 figure of 17%. Some comparisons are inaccurate or too vague: housing rose from 10% to 19%, leisure from 9% to 22%, and transport from 8% to 14%, not simply the ranges given. The overview also says several categories fluctuate between 8–18%, which does not match the chart. The response is 119 words, below the required 150, so several key comparisons remain underdeveloped. Add accurate figures and cover the main rises and falls more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic, useful structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs of details. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Meanwhile,” and “Furthermore” help signal the movement between points. However, progression is limited because the final paragraph groups five categories together without clearly comparing each year, and the overview’s broad ranges make the relationships difficult to follow. Some connections are also unclear, as in “increased in both by 8-15 percent,” where the reader cannot tell which figures belong to housing and which to leisure. Organise the details into clearer comparisons—for example, major increases, then decreases or stable categories—and use precise references to each year.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “bar chart,” “weekly income,” “dropped,” and “increased,” so the topic is generally clear. There is some variety in how you describe spending, but several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or imprecise. “Spare income” suggests money left after spending, rather than the categories shown; “consumption” is not the most natural term for household expenditure; and “fluctuate” describes variation over time, not a comparison between two years. Spelling errors such as “footware,” “trasport,” and “personal good” also reduce accuracy. Use precise terms such as “share of income,” “expenditure,” “rose,” and “fell,” and check category names carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You produce several understandable simple sentences and attempt longer structures with “as compared to,” “Meanwhile,” and “Furthermore.” However, control is uneven, particularly in verb forms and sentence construction. For example, “Housing and leisure dominant in 2018” is missing a verb, while “Housing and Leisure consumption in 1968 is round about” shifts awkwardly between plural subjects and a singular verb. The final sentence also lacks a clear grammatical structure around “these all things fluctuate.” Capitalisation and punctuation are inconsistent, including the unnecessary capital in “People” after “Overall.” Practise complete subject–verb structures and use past-tense verbs consistently when describing the two years; clearer sentence patterns will make your comparisons easier to understand.

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