Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The chart provides information about the weekly expenditure for families of one country between 1968 and 2018.

Overall, in 1968, the highest amount of income was spent on food whereas fuel and power had the lowest expenditure. In 2018, the trend had been changed daramatically as leisure became the highest spending of income. Both spending on fuel and power and personal goods had approximately similar percentage.

In 1968, the percentage of spending on food was highest among all categories whereas fuel and power was the lowest. Although, the percentage of spending on food sharply declined in 2018 at around 17% from 35% whereas the expenditure on leisure increased from nearly 9% to 22% by the end of 2018. On the contrary, the percentage of spending for household goods remained same over the period.

On the other hand, in 2018, clothing and footwear fall sharply at 5% compared with at 10% in 1968. Fuel and power cost declined in 2018 around 2% from 1968 whereas the cost of transport increased significantly from approximately 7% to 14% which was twice as double. Similarly, the cost of housing also increased around 9%, reached at 19% in 2018 which was 10% in 1968.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

The response identifies the main shifts clearly: food falls from 35% to about 17%, leisure rises from roughly 9% to 22%, and housing and transport increase, while household goods remain stable. The overview also correctly notes that food is the largest category in 1968 and leisure is largest in 2018. These comparisons address the task and are supported with relevant figures. However, the overview’s claim that fuel and power and personal goods had “approximately similar percentage” in 2018 is not a particularly useful headline feature, and the account gives less attention to the decline in personal goods and the rise in housing as part of the overall pattern. More precise selection and synthesis of the main changes would strengthen an otherwise clear summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs reporting details. The information generally progresses from the dominant categories to other comparisons, and linking expressions such as “whereas,” “On the contrary,” and “Similarly” help connect contrasts. This gives the report a coherent arrangement. However, some transitions feel mechanical or do not express the relationship accurately; for example, “On the other hand” introduces another set of figures without a clear opposing point, and “Although” begins a sentence that does not complete a concessive structure. The overview also repeats the food and fuel ranking already stated in the following paragraph. More purposeful grouping of increases, decreases, and stable figures, with fewer formulaic connectors, would make progression smoother.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

There is an adequate range of vocabulary for describing the chart, including “sharply declined,” “increased significantly,” “remained same,” and “expenditure.” These choices communicate the main trends, and the response uses several ways to describe change. Some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, however: “the trend had been changed,” “highest spending of income,” and “which was twice as double” are not natural expressions. There is also a spelling error in “daramatically,” and “footwear” should be used rather than “footware.” These slips do not prevent understanding, but they limit precision and control. Aim for standard chart-reporting phrases such as “accounted for,” “rose to,” and “fell by,” and check spelling carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The report uses a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including comparisons with “whereas” and “although,” and most of the data remains understandable. Some grammatical errors persist, particularly in verb forms, agreement, and sentence construction. For example, “the trend had been changed” uses an unsuitable passive form, while “fuel and power was the lowest” has a subject–verb agreement problem. “Although, the percentage … sharply declined” is incorrectly punctuated and structured, and “household goods remained same” is missing an article. The final comparison, “which was twice as double,” also creates an unclear grammatical relationship. Practise forming concise comparison sentences and check agreement, articles, and clause punctuation; greater accuracy across these structures would improve the report.

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