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 chart illustrates the distribution of the weekly family income in 8 sectors in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, food accounted for the largest share of salary in 1968, while in 2018 leisure took the first place. Housing and transport increased throughout the given period, in contrast to fuel and power, clothing and footware, ad personal goods. Household goods were the only sector which remained unchanged.

In 1968, Food accounted for 30 % of weekly income and dropped to almost lower than a half in 2018, reaching 17%. The same figure was followed by clothing and footware which fell from 10% in 1968 to 5% in 2018. Regarding fuel and power and personal goods they reach the same percentage in 2018 at slightly lower than 5% starting from slightly higher than 5% and approximately 8% respectivelly.

The opposite figure is followed by housing, leisure and transport. Housing almost doubled throughout the fifth-year period started at 10% in 1968 and ending at slightly under 20%. Transport, additionaly experienced a 6% increase from around 8 % in 1968 to 14% in 2018. Leisure exhibited the most dramatic rise, reaching a peak at approximately 22% of weekly income in 2018 from around 9% in 1968. Regarding householh goods the stood out beacause they remained stable at almost 8% throughout the period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

You provide a clear overview of the main shifts: food is the largest category in 1968, leisure leads in 2018, housing and transport rise, and household goods stay stable. Most figures and comparisons are supported by the chart, including leisure at about 9% and 22%, and transport at about 8% and 14%. However, food is reported as 30% in 1968, whereas the chart shows approximately 35%, and the phrase “almost lower than a half” does not clearly express the fall to 17%. The overview addresses the key features, but the discussion of fuel and personal goods is less clearly expressed. More precise reporting of the food figure and clearer descriptions of the smaller categories would strengthen an otherwise well-focused summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction and overview are followed by paragraphs comparing categories that fell or rose. This gives the reader a logical route through the data, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “In contrast,” and “The opposite” help signal comparisons. However, some transitions are awkward or unclear, particularly “The opposite figure is followed by housing, leisure and transport,” which does not clearly introduce the increases. The sentence about fuel and personal goods also combines several figures in a way that is difficult to follow. At this level, the organisation is coherent, but cohesion is not consistently smooth. Use direct topic sentences and group the categories more explicitly, for example, “By contrast, housing, transport and leisure all increased.”

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of task-appropriate vocabulary, including “distribution,” “accounted for,” “remained unchanged,” “experienced an increase,” and “dramatic rise.” These choices help describe proportions and trends, and the meaning is generally clear. However, some expressions are inaccurate or unnatural: “salary” is less suitable than “weekly income,” “took the first place” is an awkward way to identify the largest category, and “the opposite figure is followed by” does not convey the intended comparison. There are also spelling errors, including “footware,” “respectivelly,” “additionaly,” and “householh.” Greater accuracy with collocations and careful proofreading would make the vocabulary more precise and natural while retaining the useful range already shown.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and complex structures, including contrast clauses (“while in 2018…”) and participle phrases (“reaching a peak…”). Some sentences communicate the comparisons effectively. However, grammatical control is uneven, especially in longer sentences. For example, “Regarding fuel and power and personal goods they reach the same percentage” has an unclear construction and an inconsistent present tense; “Housing almost doubled throughout the fifth-year period started at 10%” contains a faulty clause structure; and “the stood out” lacks a grammatical subject construction. Punctuation and spacing are also inconsistent, such as the extra spaces around percentages. Aim to build complex comparisons from complete, clearly linked clauses, and check tense consistency and sentence boundaries.

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