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 chart illustrates information about how families in one country spent their weekly income in between 1968 and 2018.

Overall, it is evident that people spend highest amount on food. While, less amount of their income was spend on the fuel and personal goods. The graph demonstrate multiple kinds of things on which income was spend for instance; food, housing, fuel and power, clothing and footware, household good, personal goods, transport and leisure.

Firstly, in the year 1968 highest amount of spend was saw on eatable things. However less income was spend on a fuel and power round about 6 percent. The income spend on personal goods, transpot are stood on same percent, while leisure shows just one percent more than the other two things. Moreover, housing and clothing stuff are same in percent which was about 10.

In contrast, amount spend on household things for both year 1968 and 2018 are same in percent. Meanwhile, leisure saw highest in percent in 2018 as compare to others. The percentage for food and housing are almost same in expenditure. Moreover other also demonstrates different percentages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify the chart’s subject and make a relevant attempt to compare the two years, including the unchanged household-goods figure and the prominence of leisure in 2018. However, the main features are reported only minimally, and several statements are inaccurate or too vague to convey the data. Food was the largest category in 1968, but in 2018 leisure—not food—was highest. Saying food and housing were “almost same” in 2018 is also misleading: they were about 17% and 19%. Important changes, such as food falling from 35% to 17% and transport rising from 8% to 14%, are omitted. Give a clear overview of the contrasting patterns and support it with accurate figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has paragraph breaks and a basic sequence: an introduction, an overview, details about 1968, and a comparison with 2018. This gives the reader some sense of organisation. However, progression is weak because the overview repeats the category list rather than summarising the main trends, and the final paragraph offers little specific information. Connectors such as “Firstly,” “However,” and “Moreover” are used, but some do not express a clear relationship between the ideas; “In contrast” introduces a comparison without explaining the key differences. Organise the body around meaningful comparisons across years, and use linking phrases only where they clarify how the figures relate.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “percentage,” “income,” “expenditure,” and “in contrast,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, which makes parts of the report difficult to interpret. “Eatable things” is not an appropriate way to describe the food category, while “amount of spend” and “clothing stuff” are imprecise. There are also spelling errors in “transpot” and “footware,” and “household good” is not correctly formed. Use standard chart language such as “spending on food,” “accounted for,” and “share of weekly income,” and check spelling and collocations carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt a few complex structures, for example, “While, less amount of their income…” and “In contrast, amount spend on household things…,” but these constructions are often faulty. Errors in verb forms and agreement occur in “people spend highest amount,” “was spend,” and “the graph demonstrate.” Articles and sentence structure are also problematic, as in “on a fuel and power” and the incomplete or awkward comparison “as compare to others.” Punctuation is sometimes misplaced, including the comma after “While” and the semicolon after “for instance.” These errors recur and can obscure relationships between ideas. Practise accurate simple sentences first, then build comparisons using controlled clauses and consistent past-tense reporting.

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