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)

This chart illustrates information about how families in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.

Overall, Overall the spending on food had fallen dramatically, while leuise and housing surged in that same period. Household goods remained unchanged. Transport saw a gradual raise, while the remaining categories hadshown gradual decline.

The food industry initial began at highest spending weekly at about 35% in 1968 to arround 17% in 2018, decreased by 50%.The housing rose from by 10% to 19%. Fuel and power and personal goods spending had gradually declined gradually, at 6% and 8% by 4% ending at same spot. The lesuire had seen sharpest rise from by 8% to 22%, highest rise of 14 percentage points by any category. Cloothing and footware also diminished from at arround 10% by

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the main contrast: food spending fell substantially, while housing and leisure increased, and you note that household goods stayed the same. Several figures are reported accurately, including food at about 35% and 17%, housing at 10% and 19%, and leisure at 8% and 22%. However, the response is incomplete: the final sentence breaks off after clothing and footwear, and transport is not given a figure. The overview also says the remaining categories declined, although household goods was unchanged and transport rose. The response contains 117 words, below the 150-word minimum, which limits how fully you can select and report the key features. Complete the comparisons and ensure the overview matches all categories.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is a basic structure, with an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph of figures, and the reader can follow the broad comparison between the two years. However, progression is limited because the details are compressed into one long paragraph and the response ends mid-comparison. Some linking and reference are unclear, as in “Fuel and power and personal goods spending had gradually declined gradually, at 6% and 8% by 4% ending at same spot.” This makes it difficult to tell which starting and ending values belong to each category. The repeated “Overall” and the abrupt ending also weaken cohesion. Group the increases and decreases clearly, and use separate, complete sentences to report each comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a range of trend vocabulary, including “fallen dramatically,” “surged,” “remained unchanged,” and “sharpest rise,” which helps communicate the main movements. However, several word choices and spelling errors reduce precision, such as “leuise,” “lesuire,” “arround,” and “Cloothing.” Some phrases are also unnatural or imprecise: “the food industry” refers to an industry rather than the spending category, and “highest rise” is less clear than describing the largest increase. Repetition in “gradually declined gradually” further limits flexibility. Use the chart’s category labels accurately and choose concise, conventional terms such as “expenditure,” “increased,” and “fell.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You use both simple statements and some attempts at more complex comparisons, but control is inconsistent, and several sentences are difficult to interpret. For example, “The housing rose from by 10% to 19%” contains an incorrect construction, while “Fuel and power and personal goods spending had gradually declined gradually, at 6% and 8% by 4%” lacks a clear grammatical relationship between the figures. The final sentence is incomplete, and punctuation is missing after “35%” and “50%.” There is also an unnecessary repeated opening, “Overall, Overall.” Build each comparison with a clear subject and verb, for example, “Housing expenditure rose from 10% to 19%,” and check that every sentence is complete.

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