Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The bar chart illustrates the distribution of the ways families spent their weekly income in 1968 and 2018 and it is divided into 8 different categories.

Overall, food, Fuel and power and clothing and footware decreased between 1968 and 2018, while spending on housing, transport and leisure in this period.

Families spent around 35% of their total weekly income on food in 1968 as compared to around 22% in 2018. Clothing and footwear also decreased from 10% to 5%. Similar to clothing, fuel and power also decreased from approximately 6% to 4%. However, spending on household goods remained same in both years.

Leisure was the least spending activity in 1968 with families using approximately 8% of their money on leisure; however in 2018, it increased by more than double and ended up ad 22% of a family's weekly earnings were spent on leisure which was highest out of all the activities. Similar to leisure, spending on housing also increased from 10% to 18%. Transport spending also increased slightly from 8% in 1968 to 14% in 2018

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main shift away from food and towards leisure, housing and transport, and support this with relevant figures. The overview also notes declines in fuel and clothing and the stability of household goods. However, it contains an incomplete comparison: “spending on housing, transport and leisure in this period” needs a verb such as “increased.” There is also a notable data error: food was about 17% in 2018, not 22%; 22% was leisure. Calling leisure the least-spent category in 1968 is also inaccurate: fuel and power was lowest at about 6%, while leisure was around 9%. Correcting these points and making the overview more precise would strengthen an otherwise relevant summary.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response is organised into an introduction, an overview and two detail paragraphs, with a generally clear progression from broad trends to category comparisons. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “However” and “Similar to” help connect the information, and the contrast between the two years is easy to follow. Some connections are less effective: “Similar to clothing” is a slightly mechanical transition, and the final transport comparison would benefit from a full stop. The overview’s unfinished clause about housing, transport and leisure also interrupts the flow. Use more precise links between related categories and ensure each sentence is complete; this would make the progression more consistently smooth.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

You use a suitable range of chart-reporting vocabulary, including “distribution,” “decreased,” “remained” and “increased,” and the meaning is generally clear. There are, however, some imprecise or awkward choices. “The least spending activity” is not a natural way to describe a category, while “ended up ad 22%” contains a spelling slip and an informal, unclear expression. “Spent … on” is repeated, and “ways families spent” is less precise than language describing expenditure across categories. Check spelling consistently, especially “footwear,” and choose concise collocations such as “accounted for” or “the smallest share.” These refinements would improve precision and flexibility.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt a mix of simple and complex sentences, including comparisons with “as compared to” and a contrast introduced by “however.” Most sentences communicate the intended comparisons, but some grammatical errors remain. The overview sentence “spending on housing, transport and leisure in this period” lacks a main verb, and “remained same” needs an article (“remained the same”). The clause “ended up ad 22% of a family's weekly earnings were spent” is not grammatically joined; recast it as “reaching 22% of weekly income.” The final sentence also needs terminal punctuation. Review sentence completeness, articles and clause structure while retaining your attempts at varied sentence forms.

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