Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-14

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 5.0)

The line graph provides information about the the family expenditure in a single nation how they spent their weekly income in the year of 1968 an 2018.

Overall, spending in food was the highest category initially, but throughout the period it is notable that all the expenses in 2018 tend to reverse compare to 1968's expenditure significantly. While, spend of household and footware remained unchanged in both year, fuel and power also personal good remained the least category over the same period

In 1968, spending on food was the highest prioririty at 35%, while fule and power was the lowest in the same year at around 8% of their weekly income. Housing expenditure was the second highest amonth families at 10%, so does in clothing and footwear in 1968. Meanwhile, household goods, personal good, transport, leisure activities provides spending proportion from their weekly budget about 8%, 8%,

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the main starting feature—that food was the largest category in 1968—and attempt an overview comparing the two years. However, the overview is unclear and includes inaccurate claims: household goods stayed at 8%, but footwear did not remain unchanged (10% to 5%); fuel and power fell from 6% to 4%, rather than starting at 8%; and personal goods were not among the lowest categories in 1968. Most importantly, the response stops before reporting the 2018 figures or describing the major shifts, such as leisure rising to 22% and food falling to 17%. The response is also three words below the required minimum. To address the task more fully, complete the comparison and select the largest increases and decreases accurately.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some basic organisation: an introduction is followed by an overview and a paragraph beginning with details for 1968. This gives the reader a recognisable structure. However, progression is incomplete because the response ends mid-sentence after “about 8%, 8%,” and never develops the 2018 comparison. Connections between ideas are also sometimes awkward or unclear, as in “While, spend of household and footware remained unchanged” and “so does in clothing and footwear.” The overview attempts to group categories, but its comparisons are difficult to follow. Use complete paragraphs, organise details by the most important changes, and use linking expressions only where they clearly show the relationship between figures.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “expenditure,” “weekly income,” “category,” and “proportion,” so the topic is generally recognisable. There is also an attempt to vary wording rather than repeat “spending” throughout. However, several spelling and word-choice errors reduce precision, including “prioririty,” “fule,” “amonth,” and “footware.” Phrases such as “all the expenses … tend to reverse” and “spending proportion from their weekly budget” are not natural ways to describe chart changes. Choose accurate terms such as “share,” “accounted for,” “rose,” and “fell,” and check spelling carefully. More precise vocabulary would help distinguish categories that increased, decreased, or remained stable.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts some longer sentence forms, including a contrast beginning “While…” and a comparison using “but,” but control is inconsistent. The opening sentence has a faulty structure: “provides information about the the family expenditure … how they spent” combines two constructions without a clear grammatical link. Other examples include “all the expenses … tend to reverse compare to” and “household goods, personal good, transport, leisure activities provides,” where sentence structure and subject–verb agreement are problematic. The final sentence is incomplete, which also makes the intended comparison difficult to understand. Practise writing complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and check agreement and clause structure before adding complex comparisons.

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