Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-29

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 shows how families in one country spend their weekly income on eight different catogries in 1968 and 2018

in1968, food accounted approx 36%of weekly spend making it the largest category.Housing was the second largest expense at 10%. Families spend about 9% on clothing and footwears while leisure accounted for around 8%.Spending on transport,household goods and personal goods was reatively low at around 6-8%.Fuel and powder make the smallest share of 5%.

in 2018, spending on food had fall to approx 17%. In contrast ,leisure spending sharply about 22% becoing the largest category. Housing and transport are also increased to about 19% and 14% respectely, spending on cloths and footwear is less than 5%. Households goods are same as they are in 1968 but personal goods are decreased .

overall, the families spent the most money on food in 1968 while in 2018 leisure became the biggest area of spending. Spending on food decrease over the period.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main shift clearly: food was the largest category in 1968, while leisure led in 2018, and you note that food spending fell. Several comparisons are also relevant, including housing and transport rising and household goods remaining unchanged. However, some figures and trends are inaccurate or unclear: clothing and footwear was about 10% in 1968, not 9%, and fuel and power was about 6%, rather than 5%. The 2018 clothing figure was about 5%, not clearly “less than 5%”; personal goods fell to about 4%, which you do not quantify. Your overview is useful, but a more complete and precise account of the main changes would strengthen it.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a sensible overall structure: it describes 1968, then 2018, and ends with an overview of the largest category and the fall in food spending. This makes the main comparison easy to follow. You also use basic linking expressions such as “In contrast” and “Overall” appropriately. However, some connections between details are abrupt, and the overview repeats information already given rather than drawing together the broader pattern. The sentence about 1968 spending on transport, household goods and personal goods groups three categories without distinguishing their individual values. Use clearer transitions and organise the comparisons around increases, decreases and unchanged spending to make progression more consistent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a chart, including “accounted,” “largest category,” “in contrast” and “decreased,” so the reader can understand the main comparisons. There is some variety in how you describe spending. However, spelling and word-choice errors are noticeable, including “catogries,” “footwears,” “reletively,” “powder” for power, and “respectely.” Some phrases are also imprecise or unnatural, such as “leisure spending sharply” and “Families spend about 9% on clothing.” Aim for accurate category names and natural chart-reporting collocations, such as “spending on leisure rose sharply” and “accounted for approximately.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and more complex comparisons, for example, “In contrast, leisure spending sharply about 22% becoming the largest category.” The intended comparison is understandable, but the sentence needs a finite verb: “rose sharply to about 22%, becoming the largest category.” There are also errors in tense and sentence construction, such as “Families spend” when describing 1968 and “spending on food had fall.” Use consistent past-tense forms for both years, including “spent,” “rose,” and “fell.” Missing spaces after punctuation and inconsistent capitalisation also affect accuracy. More reliable control of verb forms and complete sentence structures would make your comparisons clearer.

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