Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · 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 4.0)

The bar chart compares the income of family spent in year 1968 and 2018.

It is clearly shown that food category represent highest income rate in year 1968 than 2018,while fuel and power had the lowest income rates overall.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies one relevant feature: food accounted for the largest share in 1968, and it attempts to compare the two years. However, the overview is incomplete and partly inaccurate: fuel and power was the smallest category in 2018, but in 1968 it was not the lowest, since its 6% share was below several categories but above none? More importantly, the chart’s lowest 1968 figure is fuel and power at 6%, so the claim that it was lowest overall is broadly supported only for that year, not both years. The response omits the major shifts, including leisure rising to 22% and food falling to 17%. It also contains only 39 words, far below the required 150, leaving the task minimally addressed. Select key figures and compare both years in a complete summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The two sentences are connected by a basic contrast between food and fuel and power, so the reader can follow the limited point being made. However, there is no clear progression beyond this brief statement: the response does not organise the information into an introduction, an overview, and supporting comparisons. The linking word “while” signals contrast, but it joins claims without explaining how the categories changed between the years. To improve, group the main changes logically—for example, categories that rose and those that fell—and use clear transitions such as “By contrast” or “Meanwhile.” A fuller, paragraph-based response would make the comparison easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses relevant chart vocabulary, including “category,” “income,” and “rates,” and the reader can understand the general subject. However, the range is very limited, with repeated reliance on broad terms such as “category” and “income rate.” Some word combinations are not natural for this task: families spend a proportion of their weekly income, rather than “income rate,” and the chart shows spending rather than income itself. “Food category” is understandable but less precise than “spending on food.” Develop a wider set of accurate terms such as “share,” “proportion,” “expenditure,” “accounted for,” and “rose/fell,” and use the chart’s category labels consistently. Check spelling, including “footwear” if you refer to that category.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response contains two simple sentences, and their basic meaning is understandable. However, grammatical control is uneven even in this short sample. In “The bar chart compares the income of family spent,” the noun phrase and verb construction are faulty; a clearer pattern would be “compares how families spent their income.” In the next sentence, “food category represent” has a subject–verb agreement error, and the comparison “highest income rate … than 2018” is not formed correctly. The comma before “while” also needs a space after it. Because the response offers almost no variety of sentence structures, practise accurate comparative sentences and clauses, such as “Food spending fell from …, whereas leisure rose to ….”

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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