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)

Our families highly spent their weekly income on food and they spend less weekly income on fuel and power.In 1968,our families spent 35% on food while in 2018 our families spent 18% on food .our families spent less money onfuel and power .In 1968 our families spent very less money about 7% on fuel and power.Whlie in 2018 our families spent 3% on fuel and power.while in other household affairs ,our families also spent money on clothing,personal goods,leisure,housing etc and in these affairs our families spent 5% to 23% .This is their weakly income that they spent on so many things to cover their needs .So, from 1968 to 2018 their house hold expenses have so much increased because people of modern age are hopeless , even they have so many good things but still they want something much better.so we need to control our needs to led better life.

AI examiner evaluation

CriterionBand
Task Achievement / Task Response4.5
Coherence and Cohesion4.0
Lexical Resource4.5
Grammatical Range and Accuracy4.5
Overall4.5

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify food as a major category and correctly show that its share fell from about 35% to 18%; you also note that fuel and power accounted for a small share in both years. However, the response reports only a few figures and does not give a clear overview of the main changes across the chart. The broad claim that spending on household affairs was “5% to 23%” is too vague to show which categories rose or fell, and the statement that household expenses “have so much increased” is not supported: the chart shows changes in proportions of weekly income, not total expenses. The comments about modern people’s needs are outside the task. Select the largest rises and falls and compare them accurately, without adding opinions.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

The response has a basic sequence, beginning with food and fuel, then mentioning other categories, but the ideas are not arranged into a clear report. Most information is placed in one continuous paragraph, and repeated references to “our families” make the progression difficult to follow. Connectors such as “while” and “so” are used, but they do not consistently clarify the relationship between points; for example, the final advice about controlling needs does not follow logically from the chart data. Organise the response into an introduction, an overview, and one or two paragraphs comparing categories. Group the figures by notable increases and decreases, and use clear references to the two years.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

Your vocabulary is basic and repetitive, with “spent,” “money,” and “our families” used repeatedly. Some wording makes the intended meaning unclear or unnatural, such as “highly spent their weekly income,” “household affairs,” and “weakly income.” There are also spelling and word-form problems, including “Whlie,” “house hold,” and “led.” You do communicate the general topic and use relevant category names such as “food” and “fuel and power,” but the range is limited for describing chart trends. Build a small set of accurate reporting phrases, such as “accounted for,” “the proportion allocated to,” “rose,” and “declined,” and use the chart’s category labels precisely.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response relies mainly on short, simple clauses, and frequent errors affect clarity. For example, “In 1968,our families spent 35% on food while in 2018 our families spent 18% on food” needs clearer punctuation and sentence control, while “Whlie in 2018 our families spent 3%” is an incomplete sentence. Tense and agreement are inconsistent in “they spend less” alongside past-tense descriptions, and several clauses run together without appropriate punctuation. There is an attempt to use a comparison with “while,” but the range of sentence structures remains narrow and control is weak. Practise complete comparative sentences, consistent past tense, and full stops between separate ideas.

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