Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-22

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 6.0)

The chart compares the weekly expenditure of families living in a country in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, more than one third of weekly income percentage was spent on food weekly in 1968 which dropped to almost half in 2018, however; the spending on leisure and housing surged roughly around 20% of the total weekly income in 2018 which was less than 10 percent in 1968. Whereas, spending on household good stayed constant for half a century.

In 1968 money spent on weekly food was around 35 percent which dropped to almost 17 percent in 2018. In 1968, less than 10% of the weekly salary was spent on hosuing and leisure which soared to almost a quarter of weekly income in 2018. Transport, fuel, and personal goods weekly spending remained under 10% overall. Clothing and Footwere weekly spending doubled from 5% to 10%. Transport spending percentage climbs up to around 14 percent in 2018 from 8 percent in 1968. Household goods spending remained plateau.f

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main contrast accurately: food was the largest category in 1968, while leisure and housing were among the largest in 2018, and household-goods spending was unchanged. Several figures are also reported correctly, including food (about 35% to 17%), transport (8% to 14%), and clothing (10% to 5%). However, the overview says food “dropped to almost half in 2018,” which is unclear: it fell to roughly half its former share, not to half of weekly income. The statement that transport, fuel and personal goods “remained under 10% overall” overlooks transport’s rise to 14%. Also, clothing is described as doubling, although it halved. Covering these comparisons more precisely and including the notable rise in leisure would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and a paragraph of supporting figures. The main categories are grouped in a generally sensible way, and phrases such as “In 1968” and “In 2018” help orient the reader. However, the overview’s long sentence joins contrasting points with “however” and “Whereas” in a way that makes the relationships difficult to follow. The final paragraph also moves between categories without a clear grouping, and “Transport, fuel, and personal goods” is followed by a separate transport comparison, creating repetition. Use shorter, clearly linked sentences and organise details by categories that rose, fell or stayed stable. This would improve progression while retaining the existing paragraph structure.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “weekly expenditure,” “surged,” “remained constant” and “percentage.” These choices make the topic clear, and some variation avoids relying entirely on “spent.” However, several expressions are imprecise or unnatural for describing chart data: “weekly income percentage,” “money spent on weekly food,” and “spending percentage climbs up” could be expressed more directly. There are also spelling errors in “hosuing” and “Footwere,” and “household good” needs the plural form. “Plateau” is not used naturally in “remained plateau.” Aim for accurate collocations such as “accounted for,” “the proportion spent on,” and “remained unchanged”; careful proofreading would also remove distracting spelling slips.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, and the main comparisons are usually understandable. Some grammatical errors remain, particularly in the long overview sentence: “which dropped” has an unclear reference, while “however;” is incorrectly punctuated and “Whereas” introduces an incomplete clause. The phrase “which was less than 10 percent” also has an unclear antecedent. In “Transport spending percentage climbs,” the present tense does not match the past-year comparison, and “Household goods spending remained plateau” lacks a grammatically suitable complement. Use complete sentences with clear subjects and consistent past tense, for example, “The share spent on food fell from 35% to 17%.” More controlled punctuation and clause structure would improve accuracy.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.