Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

THE BAR CHART ILLUSTRATES PROPORTATION OF WEEKLY FAMILY SPENDING IN EIGHT DIFFERENT CATEGORIES IN ONE NATION IN THE YEAR 1968 AND 2018. OVERALL, BY THE 1968, FOOD SECTOR WAS ON TOP OF THE LIST, IN CONTRAST TO IN 2018, LEAISURE CATEGORY WAS GOT POPULARITY. HOWEVER, FUEL AND POWER FIELD REAMIN LEAST IN BOTH YEAR.

IN 1968, FOOD REPRESENTED THE HIGHEST SHARE OF WEEKLY SPENDING AT 35%. HOUSING FOLLOWED AROUND 10%, AND CLOTHING AND FOOTWARE AS SAME LEVEL TO HOUSING. HOUSEHOLD GOODS, PERSONAL GOODS AND TRASPORT ALL HOVERD ROUGHLY 8% TO 9%. FUEL AND POWER WAS THE LEAST ON THAT PERIOD JUST CLOSE TO 6%, WHEREAS LEISURE ACCOUNTED FOR APPROXIMATELY 9%.

IN 2018, THE EXPENDITURE ON FOOD BECAME A HALF OF 1968 YEAR AT APPROX 17%. IN CONTRAST SPENDING ON LEISURE WAS DRASTICALLY INCERESE AND DOMINATING IN 2018 NEARLY 22%. HOUSING EXPENCES ALSO REMARKEBALY INCREASE CLOSE TO 20% AND TRANSPORT APPROXIMATELLY 14%, WHEREAS SPENDING IN FUEAL AND POWER, CLOTHING AND FOOTWARE, PERSONAL GOODS, ALL DEPICTS SIGNIFICANT DROP AROUND 4%, 5%, 4% RESPECIVELY.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.5

The response selects the main features and gives a clear overview: food was the largest category in 1968, leisure led in 2018, and fuel and power was the smallest in both years. Most figures are accurately reported, including food at 35% and about 17%, leisure at roughly 9% and 22%, and housing rising to around 19%. The comparisons also cover the notable increase in transport and declines in clothing and personal goods. This is a well-supported account of the chart. To make the reporting more precise, clarify that food fell to roughly half its former share rather than saying it “became a half,” and avoid the vague claim that leisure “got popularity”; describe the change in its share directly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear, effective structure: an introduction and overview are followed by separate paragraphs for 1968 and 2018. This makes the year-by-year comparisons easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “In contrast” and “whereas” help signal changes. The overview also gives the reader a useful guide to the main trends before the details. Some connections are less smooth because several figures are compressed into one sentence, particularly the final sentence, where multiple categories and percentages are listed together. More consistent sentence boundaries and clearer grouping of increases versus decreases would improve progression. Overall, the organisation is logical, though cohesion is not always fully controlled.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The response uses relevant chart vocabulary, including “share,” “represented,” “accounted for,” and “expenditure,” and attempts a range of trend language such as “dropped” and “increase.” However, inaccurate word forms, spelling, and collocations are frequent enough to limit precision: “proportation,” “leaisure,” “hoverd,” “incerease,” and “remarkebaly” are examples. Phrases such as “food sector was on top of the list,” “leisure category was got popularity,” and “all depicts significant drop” are also unnatural or unclear. Aim for accurate, conventional expressions for proportions and changes rather than forcing less suitable phrases. These issues explain why the vocabulary is only minimally adequate despite some useful task-specific terms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There are attempts at complex sentences, especially through contrast clauses using “whereas” and “in contrast,” and the reader can generally identify the intended comparisons. However, the range is limited and many sentences contain grammatical errors that make the relationships awkward or unclear. Examples include “by the 1968,” “clothing and footware as same level to housing,” and “leisure category was got popularity.” The final sentence also has faulty agreement and structure in “all depicts significant drop,” while “the expenditure on food became a half” is not a well-formed comparison. Practise accurate past-tense reporting, articles, agreement, and complete clause structures. More reliable simple sentences would help before adding complex links.

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