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)

The provided horizontal bar graph reveals the information regarding the how families in a nation spent their weekly income from 1968 to 2018.The data has been given in the percentage.Overall, the maximum investment was on food by families,in the former year; nonetheless, the minimum income spent in furl and power,and personal goods from families,in the latter year.

According to assigned data, 35% income had spent on food weekly to families in 1968.On the contrast, families expenditure had spent on housing,which accounted 10%,and fuel and power over 6%.Similarly, housing and fuel and power had the remained the same proportion each 10 ,the initial span.In addition, the household and personal goods,which had noticed an identical ratio nearly 7.

Heading toward,in 2018, families spent 16%on the

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

You identify the chart’s subject and attempt an overview, noting that food was the largest category in 1968. However, the overview is inaccurate: fuel and power and personal goods were not the only smallest categories in 2018, since both were 4%, while clothing and footwear was 5%; leisure was actually the largest at 22%. Several figures and comparisons are also unclear or incorrect, including the claim that housing and fuel and power each remained at 10% in 1968. The response stops partway through the 2018 description, omitting most key comparisons, and it is below the required 150 words. To improve, give a clear overview of the main shifts and accurately compare the largest and smallest categories across both years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is an attempt to organise the response into an introduction, an overview and body paragraphs, and phrases such as “Overall” and “In addition” signal relationships between ideas. However, progression is difficult to follow because the comparisons are not consistently grouped or clearly expressed. For example, “Similarly, housing and fuel and power had the remained the same proportion each 10” is confusing and does not connect clearly to the preceding figures. The final paragraph begins “Heading toward, in 2018” but ends abruptly, leaving the account incomplete. Use one paragraph for the overview and separate, complete paragraphs to compare the two years, with clear links such as “By contrast” and “Meanwhile” used accurately.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “weekly income,” “percentage,” “accounted” and “proportion,” so the topic is generally recognisable. However, word choice and collocation are often inaccurate or awkward: “maximum investment” is not a natural description of household spending, and “income had spent on food weekly to families” obscures who spent the money. There are also spelling errors, including “furl” and “footware” (the latter appears in the task label, but should be written correctly if used). The range is limited, with repeated use of “spent” and “families.” Build a more precise set of chart-reporting expressions, such as “accounted for,” “allocated to,” and “the proportion spent on,” and check spelling and collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast introduced by “nonetheless” and a relative clause beginning “which.” However, grammatical errors are frequent and sometimes make the intended comparisons hard to understand. Examples include “the how families,” “35% income had spent,” and “housing and fuel and power had the remained the same proportion.” Articles, verb forms and sentence construction need closer control; for instance, use “families spent 35% of their income on food” rather than “35% income had spent on food.” Punctuation and spacing are also inconsistent, with missing spaces after full stops and before percentages. Practise accurate past-tense reporting in complete sentences before adding more complex structures.

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