Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-26

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 5.5)

The chart gives information about how families in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018. While the chart consist of food, housing, fuel and power, clothing and footware, household goods, personal goods, transport and leisure expenses.

Overall, in 1968 food was the highest money spent in weekly. Which was 35%. However, in 2018 food expenses gradually declined around 17 percent. Lokking at the lesisre activities, it rapidly increased betwenn 1968 and 2018. While, in 2018 leisure spent was the highest percentage. It was 22%. When talk about the housing and clothing and footware expenses, it were an equal percentage in 1968. Moreover, housing expenses were slightly increased during the year period. At the same time, clothing and footware money spent gradually declined over the years.

Furthermore, household goods showing moderated percentage in both years. Turning to the personal goods and transport expenses, in1968 it were approximately same percentage. However, personal goods were slightly decreased between 1968 and 2018. At the same time, transport expenses were slightly increased between 1968 and 2018. Finally, fuel and power expenses were the lowest money spent in both years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main overall changes accurately: food falls from 35% to about 17%, leisure rises to 22% and becomes the largest category in 2018, and fuel and power remains the smallest. You also cover the other categories, so the response addresses the task and includes relevant comparisons. To make the overview more complete and precise, highlight that leisure was only 9% in 1968 and that housing and transport also rose notably, to 19% and 14% respectively. Some details are unclear or imprecise: household goods stayed at 8%, rather than showing a “moderated percentage,” and the chart shows changes between two years, not gradual trends. More selective, exact reporting would strengthen the response further.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable sequence: an introduction, an overview of prominent changes, and further comparisons among the remaining categories. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Furthermore,” and “Turning to” help signal shifts in focus. However, progression within the body is sometimes difficult to follow because several comparisons are packed together, and some transitions are awkward or repetitive, particularly the repeated “At the same time.” The sentence beginning “Which was 35%” is a fragment and interrupts the flow; “While, in 2018…” also does not connect smoothly to the preceding sentence. Grouping increases together and decreases or unchanged figures together, with clearer sentence links, would make the organisation more coherent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “expenses,” “percentage,” “declined,” and “increased,” and the reader can generally understand the comparisons. There is some variety in how changes are described, but several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “highest money spent in weekly,” “leisure spent,” and “moderated percentage.” Spelling errors in “Lokking,” “lesisre,” “betwenn,” and “footware” also detract from accuracy. Aim for precise chart language and check spelling carefully; for example, describe a category as accounting for a share of income, rather than saying money was “spent” as the category itself. This would make the vocabulary more natural and exact.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt some complex structures, including contrast clauses with “While” and “However,” and comparisons across the two years. However, control is uneven, and several sentence structures are incomplete or incorrectly formed. “While the chart consist of…” is a dependent clause without a main clause, while “Which was 35%” is a fragment. There are also agreement and verb-form problems in “it were an equal percentage” and “household goods showing,” as well as missing or misplaced grammatical elements in “When talk about…” and “leisure spent was.” These errors sometimes make relationships between ideas harder to follow. Practise complete sentences with accurate subjects and verbs, and use a wider range of correctly controlled comparison structures.

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