Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The chart illustrates the total weekly income spending of families in 1968 and in 2018 in eight sectors namely food, housing, fuel and power, clothing and footware,household goods,personal goods, transport and leisure.

Overall the most noticable feature is that food accounted for highest spending whereas fuel and power along with personal goods experienced the least expenditure and spending on leisure became the most grown sector.

Looking more closely to the chart, it is evident that expenditure on food accounted for the highest decline in 2018 as it dramatically fell from 35% per week to 17% per week followed by fuel and power, clothing and footware and personal goods following the same downward trend with slight decrease in its percentage which is around half its percentage in 1968.

In contrast, other categories particularly, housing, transport and leisure having substantial growth between 1968 and 2018 as the percentage nearly doubled for each sector particularly housing rose from 10% in 1968 to 18.5% in 2018. Moreover, the houshold goods followed a stable trend and stood at 8% during both the years. Therefore, food sector experienced the major decrease while expenditure on leisure increased significantly and eventually became the most grown sector.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You identify the main overall shifts: food spending fell substantially, while leisure became the largest category in 2018, and household goods remained unchanged. The key figures for food and housing are also reported accurately, with housing at 18.5% a reasonable reading of the chart. This gives the response a clear overview and relevant comparisons. However, the overview says fuel and personal goods were among the least-spent categories without specifying that fuel and power was the lowest in both years, and the claim that housing, transport and leisure “nearly doubled” is too broad: leisure rose from 9% to 22%, while transport rose from 8% to 14%. More precise comparisons across the categories would make the account more fully developed and avoid over-generalisation.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear four-part structure: introduction, overview, details about declines, and details about increases and stability. The progression from the overall picture to grouped comparisons is easy to follow, and linking phrases such as “In contrast” and “Moreover” help signal relationships. To make the organisation more flexible and precise, avoid repeating the same conclusion in the overview and final sentence, and ensure each paragraph groups data consistently. The long sentence beginning “In contrast, other categories…” combines several comparisons and would be clearer if divided into shorter units. Some linking is also mechanical, particularly “Therefore,” which introduces a summary rather than a new consequence.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a suitable range of chart vocabulary, including “accounted for,” “decline,” “downward trend,” “substantial growth,” and “stable trend.” These choices help communicate the main movements, and the meaning remains clear despite some imprecise or awkward expressions. For greater accuracy and naturalness, use “weekly expenditure” rather than “weekly income spending,” and replace “most grown sector” with a more conventional description such as “category with the largest increase.” There are also spelling errors in “noticable,” “footware,” and “houshold,” as well as missing spaces after commas in the introduction. More careful proofreading and more precise collocations would strengthen the vocabulary control.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “whereas,” “as,” and “which,” and the main comparisons are generally understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, especially in sentence construction and agreement. For example, “other categories … having substantial growth” is not a complete clause; write “other categories … experienced substantial growth.” In “fuel and power, clothing and footware and personal goods following the same downward trend,” the structure also lacks a clear main verb. The phrase “the highest decline” is grammatically possible but does not express the intended comparison naturally. Review sentence boundaries, subject–verb structure, and punctuation around lists; this will make your complex sentences more controlled and consistently clear.

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