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 illustrates the proportion of weekly income spent by families in one country on 8 domestic catogories in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, most expenditure increased on leisure and housing in 2018,and and amount of money spent on food declined dramatically over this period,while proportion of household good remained relatively stable.

The income spent on leisure increased from 8% in 1968 to 23% in 2018,the total expenditure on housing also rose from 10% to 19%.Moreover money spent on transport increased from 8% to 14% in 2018.

The amount of money spents on food declined dramatically from 35% to only 18%.following fuel and power decreased to less than 5% and clothing and footwear declined to only 5%.income spend on personal goods also decreased to 3% in 2018.moreover the expenditure on household goods remained relatively stable at 8%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main overall changes accurately: food spending fell sharply, while leisure, housing and transport took larger shares in 2018, and household goods stayed stable. The figures you give are generally close to the chart, including food at 35% to about 18% and housing at 10% to 19%. This covers the key features, though some categories receive less precise reporting: fuel and power and clothing are described only as falling, and personal goods is given as 3% rather than approximately 4%. The overview also says “most expenditure increased,” which is too broad because several categories declined or remained unchanged. The response is 13 words below the required minimum; add a little more accurate comparison and detail to complete the task fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall shape: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs comparing categories. This makes the main direction of change easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “Moreover” and “while” help connect information. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty. “Moreover” is repeated, and the overview contains “and and,” which interrupts the flow. The final paragraph also strings several declines together without clearly distinguishing their values or relationships. Use a more deliberate sequence—for example, compare the largest increases first, then the decreases and stable category—and vary linking devices. Clearer sentence boundaries and punctuation would make the progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “proportion,” “expenditure,” “declined dramatically,” and “remained relatively stable,” which helps describe the chart. However, the range and control are uneven, with noticeable spelling and word-choice errors: “catogories,” “spents,” and “household good.” Some phrases are also imprecise or unnatural, such as “most expenditure increased” and “income spent on leisure.” Repeating “money spent” and “expenditure” limits flexibility. Choose accurate category terms and use natural collocations such as “the share of income allocated to leisure” or “spending on household goods.” These improvements would make the comparisons more precise and easier to read.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast in the overview and comparisons using “from … to …”. Most of the intended meaning remains clear. Some grammatical and punctuation errors nevertheless reduce accuracy: “in 1968 to 23%” needs “from 8% in 1968 to 23% in 2018,” and “following fuel and power decreased” is not a complete, well-formed connection to the preceding sentence. The overview also has a duplicated “and,” while missing spaces after commas and inconsistent sentence punctuation make the writing harder to process. Check that each comparison has a complete grammatical structure and that each sentence is separated and punctuated clearly.

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