Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-13

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 that how a family in a country spent their weekly earnings on different sort of things in two different year in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, a major part of family earning spent on food and leisure. Whereas families spent lowest part of their income on fuel and power.

Firstly in 1968, 30% of family earnings spented on food and 10% for housing. This is followed by fuel and power with 7% and 10% for clothing and footware. Furthermore, 8% of family earning spented over household goods as well aas personal goods and transport. Lastly, 9% of total family earning went towards leisure.

Secondly in 2018, 23% of earnings was spented for leisure and 14% for transport. In addition, lowest part of family earning went towards personal goods and fuel or power with 4% each. Morerover, housing was also a significant factor for family expenditure with 19% .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the two years and report several relevant categories, including food, housing, leisure and transport. However, the overview is not sufficiently accurate: food was the largest category in 1968, while leisure was the largest in 2018, rather than both being major overall features without distinguishing the years. Some figures are also noticeably misreported: food in 1968 was about 35%, not 30%, and leisure in 2018 was about 22%, not 23%; fuel and power in 1968 was about 6%, not 7%. The response also omits important comparisons, such as the sharp fall in food spending and the rise in housing and leisure. These gaps and inaccuracies leave the task only partly addressed; prioritise the main changes and compare the years directly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear basic structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for 1968 and 2018. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Furthermore,” and “Secondly” help readers follow the categories. However, the organisation is somewhat list-like, and the two year-by-year paragraphs do not make direct comparisons, so the overall progression of the key trends is limited. The overview’s “Whereas” sentence is also detached from the preceding sentence, making the relationship between the ideas less clear. Grouping categories by whether spending rose, fell, or stayed similar would create a more connected account. Overall, the arrangement is coherent, though some linking and referencing feel mechanical or unclear.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant topic vocabulary, including “weekly earnings,” “expenditure,” “significant factor,” and “went towards,” so the reader can understand the subject. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or repetitive. “Spent over household goods” is not a natural way to describe expenditure, and “a major part of family earning” is imprecise. There are also spelling errors in “footware” and “Morerover,” and “spented” is an incorrect word form. Aim for precise, natural phrases such as “accounted for,” “the proportion allocated to,” and “spending on household goods.” These issues are noticeable, although the intended meaning is generally recoverable.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple sentences and more developed structures, including “Whereas families spent lowest part of their income on fuel and power.” However, control is inconsistent, and errors occur in basic sentence patterns as well as in more complex attempts. For example, “The bar chart compares that how” has an incorrect clause structure, while “30% of family earnings spented on food” lacks a correctly formed passive verb. Articles and agreement are also problematic in “a family … spent their weekly earnings” and “23% of earnings was spented.” The sentence beginning “Whereas” is a fragment in this context. Practise accurate passive forms (“was spent”), plural agreement, and complete comparisons before adding more complex clauses.

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