Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-18

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 4.5)

The bar chart make comparison spending percentage of the average weekly income of families in food, housing, fuel and power, clothing and footware, household goods, personal goods, transport and leisure in a one country in two years 1968 and 2018.

Overall, food and leisure marks the highest proportion in both, while fuel and power was the lowest expenses in the two years with personal goods in 2018.

In 1968, fuel and power was the thing that families dont spent lots of money in, with 6%. After that it comes hosehold personal and personal goods with transport by 8% of them, and then, we have clothing and footware, housing with 10%. And it's obviously large one is food with 35%

In 2018, leisure and housing becomes the

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response identifies the chart’s subject and makes an attempt to summarise the two years, but it does not yet give a sufficiently complete account of the main features. The overview says food and leisure are the highest in both years, which is inaccurate: food is highest in 1968, while leisure is highest in 2018. The description of 1968 includes several figures, but the 2018 discussion stops after “leisure and housing becomes the”, leaving the key comparisons and most of that year’s data unreported. The response also falls short of the required 150 words. To improve, complete the comparison and report the major shifts, such as food falling from 35% to 17% and leisure rising from 9% to 22%.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt at organisation: an introduction is followed by an overview and separate paragraphs for 1968 and 2018. This gives the response a recognisable structure, and phrases such as “Overall” and “In 1968” help signal the stages. However, the progression is interrupted because the final paragraph ends mid-sentence, and the overview does not clearly guide the reader through the main comparisons. Within the 1968 paragraph, “After that it comes…” and “And then” create a list-like sequence rather than a clear comparison of categories. Use complete paragraphs, group figures by meaningful changes, and connect the two years directly with linking phrases such as “by contrast” and “whereas”.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses relevant chart vocabulary, including “percentage,” “proportion,” “highest,” and “lowest,” and it names most spending categories. This shows a basic range suited to the task. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “food and leisure marks the highest proportion,” “the thing that families dont spent lots of money in,” and “large one is food.” There are also spelling errors in “footware” and “hosehold.” These issues make parts of the description less natural and sometimes harder to interpret. Aim for precise reporting language, for example “accounted for,” “share of weekly income,” and “the smallest proportion,” and check category names carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts both simple and more extended sentence forms, and the opening sentence communicates the chart’s general subject. However, grammatical control is inconsistent, with errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction. For example, “The bar chart make comparison” needs a singular verb and a more complete structure, while “food and leisure marks” has incorrect agreement. “Families dont spent” combines an incorrect auxiliary with the wrong verb form, and “In 2018, leisure and housing becomes the” is incomplete and uses an unsuitable tense. These errors sometimes make the intended meaning difficult to follow. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and build complete sentences before adding more complex structures.

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