Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-15

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 graph compares the information regarding the percentage of weekly expenditure done by families in one nation in 1968 and 2018.

overall, while in 1968 higest amount of money was spend on food by families, the figue of 2018 was dominant in Leisure. Another noticeable feature is that egual mone was spend upon household goods by families during given time period.

Starting at 35% in 1968, the weekly expenditure of families upon Food decreased to just nearby 15%. However, the figure of housing in 2018 was 2 fold of 1968, recorded at 10%. The weekly expenditure onfuel and power in 1968 and 2018 was nearby 5%, lowest expense by families in both years. Alternatively, the amount of money spend upon clothing and footware in 1968 was 10% ,wheras the figure accounted for just 55% in 2018.

Movingfurther, family spend eeual money upon householdgoods during given time period. in case of personal goods, figure of 1968 was higher than 2018 with a gradual difference of 5%. Similairly, weeekly ecpsebse of familites in 1968 was simillar at slitely lees than 10, in case of transportation and leisure ,as compared to expenditure in 2018 with the escalated figure of 15% and 20% oderly.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main contrast: food was the largest category in 1968, while leisure was largest in 2018, and household-goods spending was unchanged. You also compare several categories, including housing, clothing, and personal goods. However, some figures are inaccurate or unclear: food in 2018 is about 17%, not “nearby 15%”; clothing is 5%, not “55%”; and transport and leisure in 2018 are about 14% and 22%, rather than 15% and 20%. The overview would be stronger if it clearly summarised the broad shift from food towards leisure, housing, and transport, and the body should report the chart values more precisely. The response covers relevant features, but uneven accuracy and limited development keep the summary from being fully clear.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs. Sequencing phrases such as “Starting at” and “Moving further” help signal progression, and you group several categories together. However, the organisation within the body is sometimes difficult to follow because comparisons are compressed into long sentences, especially the final sentence about transport and leisure. Some linking words are used awkwardly or do not make the relationship clear, as in “Alternatively” before the clothing comparison. Capitalisation and punctuation also interrupt the flow, for example the overview begins with lowercase “overall,” and “in case of personal goods” starts a new sentence without a capital. Use shorter, clearly focused comparisons and consistent paragraph-level progression to make the information easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “percentage,” “weekly expenditure,” “decreased,” and “recorded,” and you attempt to vary how spending is described. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the meaning hard to interpret. For example, “the figure of 2018 was dominant in Leisure” is not a natural way to describe the highest category, while “gradual difference” does not clearly express the gap between years. Spelling errors are frequent, including “higest,” “egual,” “Similairly,” and “transportation” misspelled in context. Aim for precise chart language such as “accounted for,” “rose to,” and “was the largest share,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “while” and comparisons using “However.” Nevertheless, grammatical errors are frequent and sometimes make relationships unclear. Examples include “money was spend” and “family spend,” where the verb form is incorrect, and “equal money was spend upon household goods,” which has problems with both verb form and sentence construction. Articles and sentence boundaries are also inconsistent, as in “in case of personal goods” and the lowercase start after a full stop. Several sentences combine multiple comparisons without clear grammatical control. Practise accurate past-tense passive forms such as “was spent,” subject–verb agreement, and complete sentence punctuation; then build longer comparisons from these reliable patterns.

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