Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-20

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 4.5)

The bar chart illustrates the infirmation about how families in one country spent their weekly income during a period from 1968 to 2018.

Overall, the percentage of spending money on leisure rose steadily over the period. While the proportion of people who expended money got lower.

In 1968 approximately 35% people who spend their money on food increased between 15%-20% in 2018. The percentage of leisure and housing almost identical during 1968, but in 2018 housing

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

The response identifies the chart’s subject and attempts an overview, noting that leisure spending rose. However, the overview is incomplete and partly inaccurate: it says spending “got lower” without specifying which categories, and the chart shows leisure rising from about 9% to 22%, not a general rise in spending. The food comparison is also unclear: food fell from about 35% to 17%, rather than “increased between 15%-20%.” The final comparison about housing is unfinished. Most categories and key changes are not reported, so the task is addressed only minimally. The response is also below the required 150 words, which leaves little room to select and explain the main features. Include a complete overview and accurate comparisons of the largest rises and falls.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the response, with an opening sentence, an overview paragraph, and a move towards specific figures. The use of “Overall” and “While” signals relationships between ideas. However, the progression is difficult to follow because the overview makes a vague claim (“the proportion of people who expended money got lower”) and the next paragraph shifts abruptly to food and leisure. The final sentence stops at “but in 2018 housing,” leaving the comparison incomplete and disrupting the flow. Develop a clear sequence: introduce the chart, summarise the main overall changes, then compare categories in a logical grouping. Complete each sentence and use references that make clear which spending category is being discussed.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant chart vocabulary, including “bar chart,” “percentage,” “spent,” and “over the period,” and attempts a more formal verb in “expended.” However, the range is limited, and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural. “Infirmation” is a spelling error, “people who expended money” does not describe the share of income spent in a category, and “spending money on leisure” is less precise than “the proportion of weekly income allocated to leisure.” The phrase “got lower” is also too informal and vague for this report. Use accurate terms such as “share,” “expenditure,” “accounted for,” and “rose/fell,” while checking spelling and collocations. These improvements would make the limited information clearer and more appropriate to an academic chart summary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts both simple and more complex sentence forms, including “While the proportion of people who expended money got lower.” However, control is uneven, and some sentence structures are incomplete or unclear. “In 1968 approximately 35% people who spend their money on food increased between 15%-20% in 2018” has a faulty subject and verb relationship, making the intended comparison difficult to understand. The final sentence, “but in 2018 housing,” is unfinished. There are also problems with articles and noun phrases, as in “35% people,” and tense consistency shifts between “spent” and “spend.” Use complete sentences with a clear category as the subject, for example, “Food accounted for 35% in 1968, falling to 17% in 2018.”

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