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 line graphs present information related how families in one country utilise their weekly salary between 1968 and in 2018.

Overall, families spending their income on eight categories in the year 1968 highest money spend recorded on food was 35% and the lowest money use to fuel & power is approx 7%. Housing, clothing & footware noted similar spending.However, household goods, personal goods and transport recorded same spending salary in 1968

In 2018, leisure has more salary use in weekly

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

You identify the chart’s broad subject and report two relevant 1968 features: food was the largest category at 35%, while fuel and power was among the smallest. However, the response is incomplete and does not provide a clear overview of the main changes between the years. The 2018 statement about leisure is unfinished, and there are no figures or comparisons for most categories; for example, leisure rose to 22%, while food fell to 17% and housing increased to 19%. The claim that household goods, personal goods and transport had the same spending in 1968 is also inaccurate: their values were 8%, 8% and 8%, respectively, so this point is correct, but it needs clearer expression. The response is 80 words, below the required 150, which leaves the task substantially underdeveloped.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the response by year, beginning with an introduction and then referring to 1968 and 2018. The opening “Overall” also signals an effort to summarise. However, the ideas do not progress into a complete, clearly structured report: the final sentence stops after “weekly,” and the overview does not compare the two years. The long 1968 sentence combines several categories without clear links, while “However” does not introduce a fully developed contrast. Use separate paragraphs for an overview and the key comparisons, and connect related changes explicitly—for instance, contrast the fall in food spending with the rise in leisure and housing.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant topic vocabulary, including “weekly salary,” “categories,” “housing,” and “fuel & power,” so the reader can identify the subject of the chart. However, the range is limited, and several phrases are awkward or imprecise, such as “highest money spend recorded” and “more salary use.” These expressions make the report harder to follow and do not describe proportions naturally. Prefer standard chart language such as “accounted for,” “share of weekly income,” “rose,” and “fell.” Check spelling and conventional forms too: the chart label is “footwear,” not “footware.” More precise vocabulary would help you report comparisons clearly without repeating “spending” and “salary.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts a few different sentence forms, including an introductory sentence and a contrast beginning “However,” but control is inconsistent. In “present information related how families,” the required preposition and clause structure are missing; “between 1968 and in 2018” also combines incompatible forms. The sentence beginning “Overall, families spending…” lacks a clear main verb, and “In 2018, leisure has more salary use in weekly” is incomplete. Punctuation and spacing are also unreliable, as in “spending.However.” Build complete sentences with a clear subject and verb, and use past-tense reporting consistently: for example, “In 2018, leisure accounted for the largest share of weekly income.”

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