Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

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

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 gives infrmation about the spending of income weekly by the families in one country in 2018 compared from 1968.

The household goods have the same percentage in spending weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.

The chart shows in 1968 the food has the highest percentage 35 in spending the income. The housing, clothing and footware are on the second with same 10 percent. The leisure is on third number with the percentage of slightly lower than 10. Household goods, personal goods and transport have the same percentage approximately of 8 percent. At the last the fuel and power have the lowest percentage of slightly higher than 5 percent.

In 2018 the food shows the rapid decrease in spending the weekly income and comes on approximately at 17 percent but the housing shows the increase and it is on slighty lower than 20 percent. The fuel and power, clothing and footware, personal goods are decreased and household goods are on same position.The transport increased and aprroximately at 19 percent. At the last the leisure shows the highest increase and cross the line of 20 percent.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important features, including food as the largest category in 1968, the equal household-goods figures, and the rise in leisure and housing by 2018. However, the response only partly fulfils the summary task because it lacks a clear, accurate overview of the main changes across the two years. Some details are misreported: transport in 2018 is about 14%, not 19%, and clothing and footwear falls from about 10% to 5%, rather than being described only as decreased. The opening also gives no useful summary of the overall shift from food towards leisure, housing and transport. Select the most significant comparisons and report them accurately, rather than listing categories without explaining their relative importance.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has some organisation: it begins with a brief opening, then discusses 1968 and 2018 in separate paragraphs, which helps distinguish the two sets of figures. However, there is no strong overall progression because the opening does not provide a clear overview, and the standalone sentence about household goods interrupts the sequence before the year-by-year description. Within paragraphs, ideas are often presented as a list, with repeated patterns such as “At the last” and “The chart shows.” Use a clear overview after the introduction, then group comparisons by major changes or related categories. More precise linking and reference would also help readers follow how each category changes between the years.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant chart vocabulary such as “percentage,” “decrease,” “increase” and “highest,” so the main subject is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several phrases are unnatural or imprecise, including “spending of income weekly,” “on the second,” and “cross the line of 20 percent.” These expressions make comparisons less clear and reduce the precision expected in a chart summary. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “infrmation,” “slighty,” and “aprroximately,” as well as the repeated misspelling “footware.” Build a more accurate set of phrases for describing proportions and changes, and check spelling carefully before submitting.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response attempts both simple and longer sentence forms, and the reader can usually identify the intended comparisons. However, the range is limited, and errors occur frequently in sentence construction, articles, agreement and punctuation. For example, “The chart shows in 1968 the food has the highest percentage” has an awkward clause structure, while “the housing, clothing and footware are on the second” lacks a clear grammatical comparison. In “The transport increased and approximately at 19 percent,” the second clause has no finite verb. There are also missing spaces after full stops and inconsistent sentence boundaries. Practise complete comparative sentences, such as stating what a category “accounted for” and how it “changed to” a new figure.

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