Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

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

Overall, it clearly visible that food the highest proportion in 1968 while fuel and power the lowest proportion in the same year , whereas in 2018 the highest figure is leisure and the lowests figures is personal goods and fuel and power.

Regarding, In 1968, food represented higher percentage at 35% followed by housing with clothing and footwear at 10%, than, households goods, personal good, transport accounted at approximately 10%,

than, leisure approximately 10% and

fuel and power accounted around 5%.

In 2018, leisure represented at roughly 20% followed by housing about 20% than food nearly 15%, transport around 15% after that household goods accounted approximately 10%, clothing and footwear represented at 5% finally personal goods and fuel and power nearly 5%.

Overview, bar chart shows many changes about how families spent their weekly from 1968 to 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the main shift from food being the largest category in 1968 to leisure in 2018, and you include several relevant figures. However, some data are inaccurate: in 1968, household goods, personal goods and transport were each about 8%, not approximately 10%; in 2018, food was about 17%, rather than nearly 15%, and leisure was about 22%. The final overview, “many changes,” is too general to add a clear summary of the main trends. The response also falls four words short of the 150-word minimum. To strengthen the report, give a precise overview and select the most important increases and decreases, checking each figure against the chart.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The response has a basic structure, with an opening, an overview and separate descriptions of the two years. This helps the reader follow the broad comparison. However, progression is weakened by the repeated and sometimes inaccurate linking words, such as “than” and “after that,” and by the second overview at the end, which repeats the opening idea rather than concluding the comparison. The 1968 figures are also crowded into one long, awkward sequence, including a line break before “fuel and power.” Organise the details into clearer comparisons—for example, group categories that rose and fell—and use a small number of accurate transitions. This would make the information easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant task vocabulary, including “proportion,” “accounted for,” “followed by” and “represented,” and the reader can generally understand which spending categories you mean. However, the range is limited and several word-choice, form or spelling errors reduce precision: “lowests figures,” “households goods,” “personal good” and “footwear” is misspelled as “footware.” Phrases such as “represented at” and “accounted at” are also unnatural collocations. Repetition of “approximately,” “around” and “roughly” makes the report less varied. Aim for accurate category names and natural reporting phrases, such as “made up,” “stood at” and “the smallest shares,” while avoiding unnecessary repetition.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt both simple statements and longer comparisons, and the broad meaning is usually recoverable. However, grammatical errors are frequent, particularly in sentence construction, agreement and punctuation. For example, “it clearly visible” is missing a verb, while “the lowests figures is” has problems with both form and agreement. The opening comma in “The bar chart illustrates, information” is incorrect, and “Regarding, In 1968” creates an awkward, incomplete transition. Several long sentences join figures with “than” without forming clear grammatical comparisons. Use complete, controlled sentences: state the category and value, then compare it with another category using a correctly formed clause. Check articles, verb forms and sentence boundaries carefully.

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