Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-01

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 chart represent the notice about how families in one nation spents their weekly income in 1968 and 2018.

It is noticeable that food topped the chart by around 35 units in 1968 while that of fuel and power is down in chart by almost 6 units in 2018. And leisure is in miximum in 2018 by 23 units while that of, personal goods is minimum in 2018 by 4 units.

Looking at the figure, food topped the chart in 1968 by 35 units but it decrease in 2018 by almost 18 units. After this, housing is not the least in 1968 it is around 10 units while it increase in 2018 by almost 10 units. Likewise, transport faced rise in 2018 by almost 6 units but it is only 6 units in 1968.

Furthermore, household goods is similar in every time period by 7 units. Unlike this, clothing and footware is not similar in this two time duration in 1968 clothing and footware is more as compare to 2018 it is around 5 units more in 1968.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important features, including the fall in food spending, the rise in housing and transport, and leisure being the largest category in 2018. However, the overview is incomplete and includes a key misreading: fuel and power was the lowest category in 1968, not 2018; personal goods was lowest in 2018. Some comparisons are also unclear or inaccurate: transport rose from about 8% to 14%, rather than from 6%, and household goods stayed at about 8%, rather than 7%. The response reports selected data but does not clearly summarise the overall shift from food towards leisure, housing and transport. A more accurate overview and carefully checked comparisons would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic paragraph structure: an introduction, a brief overview, and two paragraphs of details. This gives the reader some organisation, and phrases such as “Looking at the figure” and “Furthermore” signal movement between points. However, progression is limited because the overview repeats details that are then repeated in the body, especially food’s 1968 peak. Connections between comparisons are sometimes unclear, as in “After this” and “Unlike this,” which do not precisely show how the categories relate. Grouping the figures into clear trends—for example, categories that rose, fell or remained stable—and using more exact referencing would create a more coherent progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant chart vocabulary, including “topped the chart,” “rise,” “decrease” and “similar,” so the main comparisons are generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “the notice,” “in miximum,” “is down in chart,” and “faced rise.” Repeated use of “by” also makes it difficult to distinguish a category’s value from the size of its change. There are spelling errors in “spents,” “footware” and “miximum.” Aim for precise terms such as “accounted for,” “declined to,” and “increased from … to …”; these will make the data descriptions clearer and more appropriate to an academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, but control is inconsistent, and errors occur frequently enough to make some statements difficult to follow. For example, “The chart represent” has a subject–verb agreement error, while “food … it decrease” uses the wrong verb form. In “housing … it increase,” the verb form is again incorrect, and the sentence beginning “Unlike this” becomes difficult to parse because its clauses are joined without clear punctuation. Articles and sentence construction also need attention, as in “in this two time duration.” Practise accurate past-tense reporting and build comparisons with clear structures such as “Food accounted for 35% in 1968, compared with 17% in 2018.”

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