Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-19

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 5.5)

The bar chart provide information about how families in one country spent their weekly income from 1968 to 2018.

Overall, it is clear that food recorded the highest figures, while fuel and power had the lowest.In additiion, mostly a slight decreased can be observed over the period.

In 1968 food illustrate the highest figure like 35%, which form a significant decrease to 17% in 2018, fuel and power are 7% in 1968 and form a slight decline to 4% in 2018, clothing also fall from 10% to 5% throghtout the period, however, personal goods also show a slight decrease like 8% in 1968 and 4% in 2018.However, household goods are the one spending catergerie which show no differences and remain the same from 1968 to 2018 like 8%.

In addition, high increased are shown in leisure from 9% to 22%, transport also grow from 7% to 14%, however, housing rose from 10% to 19% in the period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main shifts and support them with relevant figures: food falls from 35% to 17%, while leisure and housing rise to 22% and 19%, and household goods remain at 8%. This gives the response a clear basis for comparison. However, the overview is not fully accurate: food is the largest category in 1968, but leisure is the largest in 2018, and the claim that spending mostly decreased overlooks several substantial increases. Some figures also differ from the chart: fuel and power is about 6% in 1968 and transport about 8%, rather than 7% for each. The response is 146 words, below the 150-word minimum. Develop the overview more precisely and check figures before writing them up.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs comparing decreases and increases. This helps the reader follow the broad changes, and the contrast introduced by “In addition” and “however” signals relationships between categories. However, progression is weakened by placing several figures in long, crowded sentences, especially the paragraph beginning “In 1968 food illustrate…”. Some transitions are repetitive or awkward, and punctuation problems—such as “lowest.In” and “2018.However”—make boundaries between ideas unclear. Group the categories into clearer comparison sets, use one main comparison per sentence, and check that linking words express the intended relationship. This would make the organisation more consistently logical and less dependent on mechanical transitions.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “highest figures,” “slight decline,” “remain the same,” and “rose,” so the reader can understand the main comparisons. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate, which sometimes makes the description less natural: “food illustrate the highest figure,” “form a significant decrease,” and “high increased” are examples. Spelling errors such as “additiion,” “throghtout,” and “catergerie” are also noticeable. Aim for precise verbs commonly used for data, such as “accounted for,” “fell,” “increased,” and “remained stable,” and proofread category names and spelling. More accurate phrasing would make your comparisons clearer and more fluent.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences with comparisons, including “household goods are the one spending catergerie which show no differences.” However, control of sentence structure and verb forms is inconsistent. For example, “The bar chart provide” needs subject–verb agreement, while “food illustrate” and “which show” also use incorrect verb forms. Several clauses are joined with commas or run together, as in the sentence comparing food, fuel, clothing, and personal goods; this makes the relationships harder to follow. There are also punctuation errors where sentences run together. Use a wider range of accurately controlled sentence patterns, check singular and plural agreement, and separate long comparisons into shorter sentences with clear punctuation.

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