Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The chart illustrates average spending on distinct expenses by households on weekly income between 1968 and 2018.

Overall, food was popular choice for people to investing in it in 1968, while leisure had quite famous activity in 2018. Some experienced common, whilst other remained in both year.

In 1968, about 35% of weekly income spent by families on food, compared with Leisure at around 9% and Transport at 8%. spending on housing and clothing and footware by families on each accounted 10% income. The percentage for Fuel and power and Housing good were spent 6% and 8% respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.0

You identify the chart’s subject and report several relevant figures, including food at about 35% in 1968 and housing and clothing at 10% each. However, the response addresses the task only minimally: it gives no figures for 2018 and omits important comparisons, such as leisure rising to 22%, food falling to 17%, and transport increasing to 14%. The overview is also unclear: “leisure had quite famous activity” does not accurately describe the largest spending category, and “Some experienced common” does not explain which categories changed or stayed similar. In addition, the response is 52 words below the required minimum. To improve, provide a clear overview of the main changes and compare the most significant categories across both years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

There is some basic organisation: an opening sentence is followed by an overview and then a paragraph about 1968. This gives the response a recognisable structure. However, progression is limited because the account stops before describing 2018, and the overview does not clearly lead into the details. Linking and referencing are also weak; “Some experienced common, whilst other remained in both year” is difficult to connect to specific categories. The final paragraph lists figures without a consistent comparison pattern. Organise the details by highlighting the largest changes or by comparing each year directly, and use clear links such as “By contrast” and “Meanwhile” to show how the figures relate.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The response uses some relevant task vocabulary, including “average spending,” “weekly income,” “percentage,” and category names such as “Fuel and power.” However, the range is limited, and several word choices or collocations make the meaning unclear. For example, “popular choice for people to investing in it” is not a natural way to describe expenditure, while “leisure had quite famous activity” does not convey that leisure took the largest share in 2018. “Housing good” also misnames the chart category, which is “household goods,” and “footware” is misspelled. Use precise reporting language such as “accounted for,” “rose,” “fell,” and “remained unchanged,” and check category labels against the chart.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a few different sentence forms, including a comparison with “compared with” and a contrast introduced by “while.” However, the range is limited, and frequent errors affect clarity. In “35% of weekly income spent by families,” the sentence needs a verb (“was spent”); “on each accounted 10% income” also has an incomplete grammatical pattern and is missing “of.” The phrase “Some experienced common, whilst other remained in both year” has unclear structure, as well as problems with number agreement and the plural form. Aim first for accurate simple sentences, then build comparisons with patterns such as “Food accounted for 35%, whereas housing made up 10%.”

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