Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-02

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 bar graph demonstrates the proportions of expenditure of weekly income in 1968 and in 2018 .

Overall , the highest was spent on food in 1968 , while the least was spent on fuel and power. In 2018 , most of the income was spent on a leisure and the least on a fuel and power along with the personal goods.

The percentage had decreased in a food , fuel and power,clothing and footware ,and personal goods. Meanwhile, it had risen in housing ,transport, and leisure in 2018 . In 1968, 35% of weekly income was spent on food which reduced to nearly 17% in 2018 . However , the expenditure over household goods had remained same . There was drastic change in leisure activities which was approximately 8 % in 1968 and rose to nearly 22% in 2018 . In 2018, spendings behind fuel , power and personal goods were same at 3% .

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You identify the main contrast clearly: food takes the largest share in 1968, while leisure is highest in 2018, and you note the broad rises and falls across categories. Several figures are also reported accurately, including food at 35% and about 17%, and leisure rising to roughly 22%. This covers the task well, but some details are less fully developed or precise. For example, fuel and power and personal goods are both about 4% in 2018, rather than 3%, and the least-spending category in 1968 is fuel and power, not a clearly stated comparison with other low categories. You could strengthen the response by reporting the 2018 housing and transport increases and comparing their approximate values directly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and a paragraph describing changes and figures. The overview gives the reader a useful guide to the main patterns, and linking expressions such as “Overall,” “Meanwhile,” and “However” help connect comparisons. This is coherent overall, though some connections are mechanical or unclear. The final sentence about fuel, power, and personal goods is not smoothly integrated with the preceding comparison, and “The percentage had decreased” does not specify immediately which category is meant. Grouping the categories that fell together and those that rose together, then using clearer references such as “these shares,” would make progression more fluent and cohesion less dependent on basic linkers.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “proportions,” “expenditure,” “reduced,” “remained,” and “drastic change,” so the main comparisons are understandable. There are also attempts to vary how changes are described, rather than relying only on “increased” and “decreased.” However, some word choices and collocations are inaccurate or awkward, such as “spent on a leisure,” “spendings behind,” and “the expenditure over household goods.” “Footware” is also misspelled; the chart label is “footwear.” Aim for natural reporting phrases such as “spending on leisure,” “expenditure on household goods,” and “the share allocated to.” More precise vocabulary would help you describe the data clearly and consistently.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including the contrast in “while the least was spent…” and the comparison “which reduced to nearly 17%.” Most of the meaning remains clear, but some grammatical errors recur. Articles are used incorrectly in phrases such as “a food” and “a fuel and power,” and the sentence “In 2018, most of the income was spent on a leisure and the least on a fuel and power” needs a more accurate parallel structure. There are also punctuation and spacing problems, including spaces before commas and full stops. Practise article use with uncountable category names and check each sentence for parallel phrasing and punctuation; this would improve accuracy while preserving your range of structures.

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