Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-23

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 bar chart illustrates the way families in a particular country spent their weekly earnings in years 1968 and 2018.

In the year 1968, people spent a massive part of their earnings on food which was 35% of total income. Then they spent 10% each on housing as well as on clothing and footware. Then comes the household goods, transportation and personal goods. In 1968, people spent same amount of their earnings on each of them which was 7%. The least income in 1968 was spent on fuel and power. At last, 8% was spent on leisure in 1968.

However, In 2018 there was a significant decrease in food spending. It declines to half the percentage as it was in 1968. The money they saved from food was spent on other things. There was a significant increase in spending on housing and leisure. Although there was a considerable decrease in personal good, clothing and footware and fuels. On the other hand the spending on household product remain same as it was in 1968. The transport in 2018 also rise up to 14%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main contrast between the two years, especially the fall in food spending and the rises in housing, leisure and transport. The overview is present, and most of the 2018 trends are reported accurately. However, several 1968 figures are misreported: household goods, transport and personal goods are each shown as 8%, not 7%, and leisure is 9%, not 8%. The statement that money saved on food was spent on other things also implies a direct transfer that the chart does not establish. Some comparisons are underdeveloped: for example, leisure became the largest category in 2018, while food was the largest in 1968. Include these key rankings and use accurate figures to make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response follows a clear chronological structure, with one paragraph for 1968 and another for 2018, and the contrastive opening of the second paragraph helps signal the change in period. The information is generally easy to follow. However, the repeated use of “Then” makes the first paragraph read like a list, while “At last” is not a natural way to introduce the final category. The second paragraph also groups several decreases together without giving their values, so the comparison is less clearly developed. A brief overview paragraph followed by grouped comparisons—such as the largest categories and then the smaller ones—would create stronger progression. Use linking phrases selectively and make references such as “it” and “them” more explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for describing chart data, including “significant decrease,” “considerable decrease” and “remain same,” and the meaning is generally clear. There are also attempts to vary the wording for spending. Some choices are imprecise or unnatural, however: “massive part” is too informal for this context, “Then comes” does not fit the past-time description, and “the money they saved from food” suggests a relationship not shown by the chart. There are spelling and word-form slips in “footware,” “personal good” and “fuels,” and “household product” does not match the chart’s category. Prefer precise category labels and standard collocations such as “accounted for” or “spending on.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use both simple sentences and some more complex forms, including “Although there was a considerable decrease…” and “which was 35% of total income.” The main message remains understandable, but some grammatical errors occur across the response. For example, “Then comes the household goods” shifts into the present tense, and “The transport in 2018 also rise up to 14%” has an incorrect verb form. In “the spending on household product remain same,” the subject–verb agreement and article use need attention. Capitalisation after “However,” is also inconsistent. Check that past-tense reporting is maintained throughout and that singular subjects take singular verbs; these corrections would make the varied sentence forms more controlled.

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