Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-27

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)

This chart illustrates information about families spending their weekly income in 8 different products in the period of 50 years in between 1968 to 2018.

Overall, The food was leading category initially however it overpassed by leisure by 2018. Household goods remain unchanged while the money spent on fuel and power had lowest from all categories in both periods respectivelly.

1n 1968,The leading category was Food accounts for 35% of total weekly income followed by Housing and cloothing footware at 10% simultaneously.

In contrast the money spended at fuel and power was lowest around 6%. Meanwhile the categories at same level of weekly spending around 8% shown in Households, Personal goods and Transport. Leisure represented 9% of a weekly income.

In 2018, Food dropped sharply to 17%, which was overtaken by housing and lesuire by 19.5% and 21%. Transport surged to 14% while fuel and power modestly decreased from 6% to 4% over the period. additonally footwear aslo saw downward growth.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main shift clearly: food is the largest category in 1968, while leisure and housing lead in 2018, and you note that household-goods spending is unchanged. Most figures are consistent with the chart, including food at 35% and 17%, transport rising to 14%, and fuel and power falling to 4%. The 2018 figures for housing and leisure are slightly imprecise, and the final comment that footwear “saw downward growth” does not specify its change from 10% to 5%. The overview also says fuel and power was the lowest category in both years, although personal goods was equally low in 2018. The key features are covered, but a few comparisons need clearer, more complete reporting.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for each year. This makes the main comparison easy to follow, and linking phrases such as “Overall,” “In contrast,” and “Meanwhile” help signal relationships between figures. However, some connections are awkward or unclear. For example, “followed by Housing and cloothing footware at 10% simultaneously” is difficult to process, while “additonally footwear aslo saw downward growth” is an incomplete-feeling final point. The overview could also group the major changes more systematically before the detailed figures. More precise linking and clearer references between categories would make the progression smoother and less mechanical.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a reasonable range of chart-related vocabulary, including “leading category,” “dropped sharply,” “surged,” and “remained unchanged,” which helps describe trends rather than simply list numbers. Some choices, however, are inaccurate or unnatural: “overpassed” is not the right verb for one category becoming larger than another, and “money spended at” is an awkward collocation. “Downward growth” is also contradictory, and “products” is not the most suitable term for spending categories such as housing and leisure. Spelling errors, including “cloothing,” “lesuire,” and “additonally,” reduce accuracy. Aim for standard reporting phrases and check spelling carefully; the intended meaning is generally understandable, but vocabulary control is not yet consistently precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast clause in “Food dropped sharply to 17%, which was overtaken by housing and lesuire.” The main ideas are usually understandable, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “The leading category was Food accounts for 35%” combines incompatible verb structures; use either “Food accounted for 35%” or “The leading category was food, at 35%.” The opening phrase “in the period of 50 years in between 1968 to 2018” also has an awkward time construction, and “Household goods remain unchanged” shifts tense when describing past data. Punctuation and spacing are inconsistent, particularly after commas and full stops. More reliable control of verb forms and sentence construction would improve clarity.

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