Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The bar chart shows information about how families in a single country spent their weekly income in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, the spending habit of the families declined across most of the categories ( food, fuel and power, clothing and software, and personal goods). In contrast, the families spending on housing, transport and leisure increased. However, household goods remained unchanged during this period.

In 1968, Food occupied the largest share accounting for 35% of the families weekly income, followed by a dramatic decline of about 17% in 2018. Fuel and power occupied the least proportion with only about 7% in 1968 before dropping to approximately 4%.

Clothing and software and personal goods followed a similar trend, starting at 10% and approximately 7% respectively in 1968. Clothing and software fell to 5% in 2018 and personal goods also declined to 3% in 2018.

On the other hand, leisure expenses was the highest in 2018 representing approximately 23%, from its previous rate of 8% in 2018. Transport expenses also increased from around 7% in 1968 to about 14% in 2018. However, household goods expenses remained the same during this period with only about 7% reported in 1968 and 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You provide a relevant summary and identify the main overall shifts: food spending fell, while housing, transport and leisure rose, and household goods stayed broadly stable. Several figures are also reported accurately, including food at 35% in 1968 and 17% in 2018, and transport at about 7–8% and 14%. However, some details are less fully or clearly reported. Housing’s substantial rise from 10% to 19% is omitted, despite being an important change. The leisure comparison says its previous rate was 8% “in 2018,” which misidentifies the year; it should be 1968. Some figures, such as household goods at 7% rather than about 8%, are slightly imprecise, though the overall pattern is clear. Include the key housing change and check year labels.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs grouping decreases and increases. This makes the main comparisons easy to follow, and transitions such as “In contrast” and “On the other hand” help signal changes in direction. Cohesion is not always fully controlled, however. The leisure sentence gives its earlier figure as “8% in 2018,” which conflicts with the comparison and makes the reference unclear. The overview also lists several categories in a long parenthesis, while the body repeats some of the same trends. To improve progression, group the figures more systematically—for example, compare the largest categories first, then cover the smaller ones—and ensure each comparison clearly identifies both years.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for describing chart data, including “accounting for,” “proportion,” “declined,” “increased,” and “remained unchanged.” These choices communicate the main trends, and the response attempts some variation rather than relying only on “went up” and “went down.” Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or imprecise: “spending habit” is not a natural description of the data, “occupied the least proportion” is awkward, and “clothing and software” misnames the chart category, which is clothing and footwear. “Dramatic decline of about 17%” could also be clearer because the figure fell to 17%, rather than falling by 17 percentage points. Use precise category names and conventional chart language to make comparisons more exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex forms, including the overview contrast “In contrast…” and the participial phrase “accounting for 35%.” Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical errors and awkward constructions are present. For example, “the families weekly income” needs a possessive apostrophe (“families’ weekly income”), and “leisure expenses was” has a subject–verb agreement error; use “leisure spending was” or “leisure expenses were.” In “from its previous rate of 8% in 2018,” the year reference also needs correction to 1968. Check agreement, possessives and sentence punctuation, and vary sentence patterns while keeping comparisons grammatically complete.

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