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 bar chart provides data regarding how families in one nations used their income per week two particular year in 1968 and in 2018.

overall, it can be seen that this average weekly spending by families are food was heights in letter year. While fuel and power and personal goods was lowest in former year.

to begin with, it can be noticed that average weekly spending by families are food was 35% of weekly income in 1968 following year figure almost half of weekly income in 2018.Moreover, in 1968 housing was 10%of weekly income after that figure rose to around 19% in 2018.in 1968 fuel and power and household goods and personal goods was 6% and 7% and same respectively.

On the other hand, clothing and footwear was 10% in 1968 and following year figure fall to 5% of weekly income in 2018.In addition in 1968 transport was 7% and after that increase by 14 % in 2018.What is more,leisure was 9% in 1968 and after that figure significantly rise to 23% of weekly income in 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the two years and report several relevant categories, including the sharp fall in food spending and rises in housing, transport and leisure. However, the overview is unclear and partly inaccurate: “food was heights in letter year” does not clearly state the main pattern, and food was highest in 1968, not 2018. The claim that fuel and personal goods were lowest in 1968 also overlooks that fuel and power was the lowest category, while personal goods was higher. Several figures are close to the chart, but household goods stayed at about 8% in both years rather than 7% in 1968. A clearer overview and more accurate selection of key comparisons would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic structure: an introduction, an attempted overview, and paragraphs comparing categories. This gives the reader some sense of how the information is organised. However, progression is weakened by unclear links and mechanical sequencing, such as “following year figure,” “after that,” and “On the other hand,” which does not always express a genuine contrast. The overview is difficult to follow, and several comparisons are crowded into long sentences without clear separation. Use one paragraph for the main trends and organise the details into clear groups—for example, categories that rose and those that fell. More precise linking and clearer sentence boundaries would improve the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “weekly income,” “rose,” “fall,” and “significantly,” and the reader can generally recognise the categories being compared. However, the range is limited and several word choices or forms are inaccurate, making parts of the report difficult to understand. Examples include “one nations,” “food was heights,” and “in former year”; these do not express the intended meaning naturally. Repetition of “figure” and “after that” also limits flexibility. Learn accurate collocations for describing chart data, such as “accounted for,” “stood at,” and “increased to,” and check spelling and word forms, including “footwear.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt to combine information using clauses and time references, but sentence structures are mostly simple or become faulty when extended. Errors in agreement and verb forms recur, as in “spending … are” and “fuel and power and … goods was.” The overview phrase “food was heights in letter year” is also grammatically unclear. Articles, spacing and punctuation are inconsistent, and several sentences run together after full stops, for example around “2018.Moreover” and “2018.in 1968.” These patterns sometimes make the comparisons hard to follow. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement and past-tense reporting, then use shorter, correctly punctuated sentences before attempting more complex comparisons.

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