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 chart illustrates the amount of weekly income spent by families in 1968 and 2018 on various utlilities. Overall, the money spent on food in 1968 has been significantly reduced by half in 2018. However, the income spent on housing and leisure has skyrocketed in 2018.

In 1968, the families used to spend 35 percent of the weekly salary on food and 10% on housing and appearence seperately. Additionally, around 9% had been devoted to each household goods, personal goods and transport. A small share of approximately 6% was alocated to fuel and power

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify two important overall changes: food’s share fell substantially, while housing and leisure took larger proportions in 2018. The figures you give for 1968 food and housing are accurate, and you attempt to compare categories. However, the response addresses the task only partially: it stops before describing any 2018 figures, and several 1968 values are inaccurate or unclear. For example, household goods, personal goods and transport are each about 8%, not around 9%, while “appearance” seems intended to mean clothing and footwear. The overview also says food was “reduced by half,” although it fell from 35% to 17%, and “skyrocketed” is imprecise. The response is 56 words below the required minimum. Include the main 2018 figures and a fuller comparison of the categories.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an opening sentence and overview are followed by a paragraph about 1968. “Overall” and “Additionally” help signal the relationship between ideas, so the reader can follow the basic direction. However, the response ends before the comparison is completed, leaving no clear progression through the 2018 data or a concluding comparison. The list of 1968 categories is also compressed into one long sequence, and “seperately” does not make clear which two categories are being grouped. Organise the details into a clear comparison—for example, discuss the largest categories in both years first, then the smaller categories—and use linking phrases to show increases and decreases.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing a chart, including “weekly income,” “share,” “devoted to,” and “significantly reduced.” These choices make the topic clear, and “skyrocketed” shows an attempt to use a more emphatic term. However, the range is limited in this short response, and some choices are inaccurate or too informal for a neutral report. “Utilities” does not accurately describe all the spending categories, while “appearance” is not the chart’s category name; use “clothing and footwear.” “Skyrocketed” overstates the change, and “salary” is less suitable than “weekly income” here. There are also spelling errors in “utilities,” “separately,” and “allocated.” Use precise category labels and neutral comparison language such as “rose” or “increased.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

Your sentences are generally understandable, and you use both simple statements and a more complex contrast with “However.” The opening sentence and the overview communicate the main subject and broad trends clearly. Some grammatical choices are less controlled, though. In “the money spent on food in 1968 has been significantly reduced,” the present perfect passive is awkward for comparing two completed years; use the past simple, such as “the proportion spent on food fell.” “The families used to spend” also suggests a past habit rather than reporting a chart figure, so “families spent” is more appropriate. The final sentence is incomplete in punctuation and does not end with a full stop. More consistent past-tense reporting and complete, clearly punctuated sentences would improve accuracy.

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