Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-10-30

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 graph illustrates the details related to the average weekly spending in eight sectors by families in the years of 1968 and 2018.

Overall, people spent most of thier income in food and the least one in the fuel and power in the past first year. In the past second year, they devoted higher value of thier finance in liesure while the lowest was also same as in the first year the fuel and power.

In the year of 1968, food is accounted for the most share of spending with 35%, housing , clothing, and footware was at 10%. Three catagories (Household, personal goods, and transport) have the same percentage with almost 7% and least one is fuel and power with 6% almost.

In the year of 2018, most spendig was on leisure fecilities with 22% almost and the minimal ratio for clothing and footware along with personal goods with 4%. Housing at 18% almost while transport had ratio of 14%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main contrast between the years: food dominates spending in 1968, while leisure is highest in 2018, and fuel and power is among the smallest categories. You also include several relevant figures. However, the overview is not fully accurate: fuel and power was not the lowest category in 2018, since clothing and footwear and personal goods were both about 4%. Some figures are also misreported or imprecise: household goods, personal goods and transport were each 8% in 1968, not about 7%, and personal goods in 2018 was 4%, not the lowest alongside clothing at 4% only if both are clearly stated. The response covers the task, but comparisons and key changes—such as food falling and leisure and housing rising—need fuller, more accurate reporting.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for 1968 and 2018. This makes the two years easy to follow, and phrases such as “Overall” and “In the year of 2018” signal the structure. However, the progression within the overview is somewhat unclear, particularly “the past first year” and “the past second year,” which make the time references harder to interpret. The final paragraph lists figures but does not connect them to the earlier year through direct comparisons. Grouping the largest changes together—for example, food decreasing while leisure and housing increase—would create a more coherent comparison and stronger progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “average weekly spending,” “share of spending,” “percentage,” and “ratio,” so the topic is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “higher value of their finance,” “least one,” and “leisure facilities” when describing the spending category. Spelling errors, including “thier,” “liesure,” “catagories,” and “spendig,” are noticeable and reduce precision. Aim for standard chart language and accurate category names, such as “accounted for,” “expenditure,” and “the smallest proportion.” This would make the report more concise and natural while preserving the meaning of your comparisons.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, and the overall meaning is usually understandable. However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles and sentence construction occur across the response. For example, “food is accounted for” should use the past form “food accounted for,” while “housing, clothing, and footware was” requires a plural verb. The phrase “the least one in the fuel and power” is also grammatically incomplete, and “In the year of 2018, most spending was…” would be more accurate as “the highest proportion was spent…”. Work on consistent past-tense reporting and complete, well-formed comparisons. More accurate control of these patterns would make your range of sentence structures clearer and easier to read.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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