Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-21

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)

In the given chart the comparison between spending of weekly income in 2018 and 1968 is given. The chart shows that in 1968 people mostly spend their income on food than people who are living in 2018. On housing the people of 2018 spent their money and people of 1968 was not interested in the housing. In 2018 people spent their mostly income on clothing and footware. In 1948 the use of fuel was more as compared to the 2018 because in 1948 the people used the fuel for their daily life purposes. On households goods the both 1968 and 2018 people spent the same percent of their weekly income. The people of 1968 was more interested to spend their weekly income on the personal goods. The transport in 2018 was increased so, the people spent their weekly income the transport more than 1968. On leisure the 2018 people spent the most of their monthly income. The people of 1968 liked to spend their weekly income on their food.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify several relevant categories and make some valid comparisons: food was the largest item in 1968, household goods were equal in both years, and spending on transport and leisure was higher in 2018. However, the response only partially reports the chart’s main features and gives no clear, accurate overview of the overall changes. Some claims are incorrect: clothing and footwear was not the largest 2018 expense (leisure was), and the fuel comparison refers to 1948 rather than 1968. The statement that 1968 families were “not interested” in housing is also unsupported; the chart shows a spending share, not people’s interest. Include key figures and describe the main shifts objectively to make the summary more complete and reliable.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 3.5

The response follows the chart categories in a generally understandable sequence, and phrases such as “On housing” and “On leisure” help signal the topic of each point. However, it is presented as one continuous paragraph, with no distinct overview to guide the reader through the main trends. Many sentences repeat the same pattern, especially “people spent their weekly income,” so the progression feels like a list rather than a connected summary. Some links are also unclear or awkward, such as “The transport in 2018 was increased so,” and the final food statement repeats an earlier point. Group the largest changes together, use a separate overview, and vary linking and sentence patterns.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use enough topic vocabulary to identify the chart’s categories, including “weekly income,” “housing,” “fuel,” “personal goods,” and “transport.” This makes the general subject understandable. However, the range is limited and several expressions are imprecise or repetitive, such as “people spent their mostly income” and “not interested in the housing.” The response also uses “monthly income” once, although the chart concerns weekly spending, and “footware” is misspelled. More precise chart language would help distinguish spending shares from people’s preferences and make comparisons clearer. Practise collocations such as “accounted for,” “the proportion spent on,” and “rose from … to …,” while checking category names and spelling.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response communicates its basic meaning through mostly simple sentences and some attempts to link clauses with “because” and “so.” However, grammatical control is inconsistent, and errors recur in verb forms, agreement, and sentence construction. For example, “people mostly spend” should use a past form when describing 1968, while “people of 1968 was” has a plural subject with a singular verb. The phrase “On households goods the both … spent” also has problems with article use and sentence structure. Several sentences rely on the same basic pattern, limiting grammatical range. Build accuracy first with clear past-tense comparisons, then practise combining them using controlled comparative clauses.

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