Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The chart compares the weekly spendings of different families in a country on multiple necessities of life in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, leisure, housing and food stand out to take the major portion of salaries in the year 2018. Food items experienced a dramatic decline while fuel & power, clothing & footware and personal goods went through a gradual decrease in spendings. Conversely, housing, transort and leisure climbed steadily.

In 1968, people spent highest proprtion of their weekly earnings, 35%, on the food items, followed by clothing and footware and leisure where people spent 10% and 8% respectively. Transportation, personal goods and household goods formed comprised same percentage of weekly expenditure in 1968 which was 7%. Only 6% of the weekly income was spent on fuel and power which is the minimum amount as compared to others.

In 2018, food experienced a dramatic decline to 17% following the highly spent categories of leisure, housing and transport which peaked at 23%,19% and14% respectively. Clothing & footware, personal goods and clothing & fiitware declined gradually while clothing and footware remained stable.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main contrast between the years: food spending fell substantially, while housing, transport and leisure took larger shares in 2018. The overview also notes declines in fuel, clothing and personal goods, so the response addresses the chart’s key patterns. However, several details are inaccurate or unclear: in 1968, clothing was 10% and leisure 9%, not 10% and 8%; transport, personal goods and household goods were each 8%, not 7%. The 2018 leisure figure is about 22%, rather than 23%. The final sentence is especially confusing because it repeats clothing and says it “remained stable,” although clothing fell from 10% to 5%. More precise selection and reporting of figures would strengthen the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall shape: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for the two years. This makes the comparison easy to follow, and transitions such as “Overall,” “In 1968,” and “In 2018” help signal the stages of the description. However, some cohesion is weakened by unclear or repetitive phrasing. The final sentence repeats clothing several times and does not clearly connect the categories to their changes. The phrase “following the highly spent categories” also makes the relationship between food and the other 2018 figures difficult to interpret. Grouping categories by whether they rose, fell or stayed similar, and using clearer references such as “these categories,” would make the progression more controlled.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “dramatic decline,” “portion,” “weekly earnings” and “expenditure,” and the meaning is generally understandable. There are, however, several inaccurate or unnatural choices that limit precision. “Weekly spendings” is less natural than “weekly spending,” while “highly spent categories” does not clearly describe the largest shares. “Climbed steadily” suggests a trend over time, although the chart compares only two points. Spelling errors such as “proprtion,” “transort” and “fiitware,” along with the repeated “clothing & footware,” also reduce accuracy. Aim for precise chart language such as “accounted for,” “rose,” “fell” and “the largest proportion,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including the overview sentence contrasting declines with increases and the clause beginning “where people spent.” Most of the intended meaning remains clear, but some grammatical errors affect accuracy. For example, “people spent highest proprtion” is missing an article and needs a clearer structure, such as “people spent the highest proportion.” In “which was 7%,” the singular verb does not agree with the plural list of categories; “which were each 8%” would be appropriate. The final sentence is also structurally difficult to follow because it repeats categories without a clear grammatical relationship. Continue using varied structures, while checking articles, agreement and sentence clarity.

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