Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The bar chart illustrates the information about how families in one country spend their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.

Overall, there was a major shift in spending habits. Food was the biggest expense in 1968 but it fell alot in 2018. In contrast, spending on leisure, housing and transport increased. People spent less on food, clothing and fuel.

In 1968, food accounted for 35% of spending, but by 2018 it dropped to 17%. Leisure rose from 9% to 22% and became the largest expense in 2018. Housing doubled from 10% to almost 19%. The category of transport increased over the years. It increased 8% to 14% in 1968 and 2018 respectively.

The spending percentage of the household goods remained same in the year 1968 and 2018. Families spend 8% of their income on personal goods in 1968. It decreased to only 4% in 2018. There is a dramatic change in the percentage of the clothing and footware category. It surged 5% to 10% in the year 1968 and 2018 respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main change clearly: food was the largest category in 1968, while leisure became the largest in 2018, and you report several relevant figures accurately. However, the overview is not fully reliable because it says housing and transport increased, but also groups fuel with categories that fell without reporting fuel’s change. More importantly, the clothing comparison is reversed: it fell from 10% to 5%, rather than rising from 5% to 10%. The transport sentence also gives the figures in a confusing order. To strengthen the response, select the most important contrasts and check each figure against the chart, including the fall in fuel from 6% to 4%.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and two detail paragraphs, and it generally moves from the broad pattern to individual categories. Linking phrases such as “Overall,” “In contrast” and “but by 2018” help signal comparisons. However, progression is weakened by the unclear transport sentence, “It increased 8% to 14% in 1968 and 2018 respectively,” where the time reference comes after the figures. The overview also repeats the idea that food spending fell, and the final paragraph groups categories without a particularly clear comparison pattern. Organise the details consistently by largest changes or by increases and decreases, and use precise references to make each comparison easy to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “accounted for,” “rose,” “doubled,” “remained” and “dramatic change,” so the main trends are usually understandable. Some choices are imprecise or repetitive, however: “spending percentage” is less natural than “proportion of income,” and “The category of transport increased” is wordy. “Alot” is an incorrect spelling, while “footware” should be “footwear”; these errors do not prevent understanding but reduce accuracy. Also, “surged” is not appropriate for the clothing figure because the category actually declined. Aim for accurate trend verbs and natural collocations, and check spelling before finishing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including contrast clauses such as “Food was the biggest expense in 1968 but it fell…” and time clauses such as “by 2018.” Most sentences communicate the intended comparison, but some grammatical patterns are incomplete or awkward. For example, “It increased 8% to 14%” needs “from” before the starting figure, and “The spending percentage of the household goods remained same” is missing “the” before “same.” In “Families spend 8%,” the present tense is inconsistent with the historical data and surrounding past-tense description. Use consistent past forms and check prepositions and articles in comparison structures.

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