Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The chart illustrates the weekly spendings of families in 1968 and in 2018. Overall, majority of income was spent on food, followed by housing. Fuel and energy shared a least percentage.

In 1968, 35% of the income was consumed in purchasing food.While house rents and garments shared 10% each. Followed by, luxury which contributed 8%. On average, weekly 7% was spent on fuel and energy.

In 2018, consumption on edibles reduced to 17%. However, expenditures on leasure significantly rose to 23%, followed by housing, which increased to 19%. Moreover, expendings on clothing and petroleum decreased to 5% and 3% respectively. Surprisingly, expenses on transports were increased two folds in 2018 compared with 1968.

There remained a stablility in household items in both the years. Personal items shared a minor part of incomes in given period, it were at 8% in 1968 and further lowered to 4% in 2018.

Generally, food and housing remained the major contributors, while fuel and household items shared the least percentage of income.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main shift from food to leisure and housing, and include several relevant figures: food falls from 35% to 17%, housing rises to 19%, and transport roughly doubles. The overview also recognises that food and housing are major categories. However, some details are inaccurate or unclear: fuel and power is about 6% in 1968, not 7%, and the chart labels the category “fuel and power,” rather than petroleum or energy. The claim that fuel and household items were the least-spent categories overall is not accurate across both years; in 2018, fuel and personal goods are lowest, while household goods remain at 8%. Some categories, such as personal goods and household goods, receive less developed comparison than the main changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction and overview are followed by separate descriptions of 1968 and 2018, with a final summary. This makes the main comparisons easy to locate. You also use linking expressions such as “However,” “Moreover,” and “while” to connect contrasting information. At times, though, the progression is less smooth because details are presented as a list, and “Followed by” is used as a sentence fragment rather than being integrated into the preceding point. The final paragraph repeats the overview without adding a new comparison. Grouping related rises and falls together, and using clearer references between categories, would make the cohesion less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of vocabulary for describing spending and change, including “contributed,” “reduced,” “rose,” and “increased two folds.” Some attempts at less common wording are not natural or precise for this chart: “weekly spendings,” “consumed in purchasing food,” and “expendings” are awkward, while “luxury” does not clearly identify a chart category. “Leasure” is also misspelled, and “petroleum” is not an accurate substitute for the chart’s “fuel and power” category. These choices do not prevent the reader from understanding the main message, but they reduce precision. Prefer standard chart language such as “expenditure on,” “accounted for,” and the category labels shown in the visual.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “However” and a relative clause in “housing, which increased to 19%.” The main comparisons are generally understandable, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “Overall, majority of income” needs an article, and “it were at 8%” has incorrect agreement. “While house rents and garments shared 10% each” is not a complete sentence, and “expenses on transports were increased” uses an incorrect passive construction. Punctuation also needs attention: “food.While” requires a space, and several sentence openings are fragments. Check articles, subject–verb agreement, and complete sentence structure when revising.

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