Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The chart shows many variation of percentage changes in average weekly spending by families between year 1968 and 2018. Percentage spending on food in 2018 became half of year 1968. Also, percentages of consumption on personal goods and clothing and footware was significantly decrease by half between those years. There was less significant decrease in percentage of fuel and power consumption.

But, the chart also shows the increase of consumption percentages by families for housing, transport and leisure. Housing consumption was increased almost doubled, even percentage on leisure was rising more than double between 1968 and 2018. Only household goods spending was remain the same between those years.

It can be conclude that most of families spend their weekly income not only in basic needs like foods but also increasing their percentage on tertier needs like leisure. Leisure led the percentage on weekly spending in 2018, even bigger than housing and food spending percentages.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main contrast between the two years: food’s share fell, while housing, transport and leisure rose, and household goods stayed unchanged. You also note that leisure became the largest category in 2018, which is an important feature. Some comparisons are imprecise, however: food fell from 35% to 17%, so it was roughly halved rather than exactly half; personal goods fell from 8% to 4%, but clothing fell from 10% to 5%. Housing rose from 10% to 19%, while leisure increased from 9% to 22%. The overview is relevant, but the claim about “tertiary needs” is broad and not clearly supported by the chart. More precise figures and a clearer overview of the largest changes would strengthen the report.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: it first describes decreases, then increases, and ends with a concluding comparison. This gives the reader a sensible route through the information, and linking words such as “Also,” “But,” and “Only” help signal relationships. However, the paragraphing is limited, and the final sentence introduces a general interpretation rather than extending the chart comparison. Some links are also slightly mechanical, particularly the repeated use of “between those years.” Grouping the figures into a more deliberate overview and detail paragraphs, and using clearer references such as “the former period” or “by 2018,” would make progression smoother and cohesion less repetitive.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a relevant range of chart vocabulary, including “percentage,” “consumption,” “significantly,” and “increased,” and the main meaning remains clear. There are also attempts at more formal phrasing, such as “tertiary needs,” although this is not a natural or necessary description of the categories shown. Several word-choice and collocation problems limit precision: “many variation” is not idiomatic, “percentage spending” is awkward, and “led the percentage” does not naturally express that leisure was the largest spending category. “Footware” is also misspelled, and “foods” is unsuitable when referring to the category “food.” Aim for standard chart-reporting phrases such as “the proportion spent on” and “accounted for the largest share.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including comparisons with “even” and a concluding clause beginning “It can be conclude that.” The overall message is understandable, but some errors in verb forms, agreement and sentence construction remain. For example, “was significantly decrease” should be “decreased significantly,” while “Only household goods spending was remain the same” should be “spending on household goods remained the same.” In “Housing consumption was increased,” the passive form is unnecessary; use “the proportion spent on housing increased.” The opening phrase “between year 1968 and 2018” also needs an article or plural form. More consistent control of past-tense verbs and complete, natural sentence patterns would improve accuracy.

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