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 given bar chart illustrates how families in one country distributed their weekly income among different categories in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, families spent the largest proportion of their weekly income on food in 1968, whereas housing became the biggest expense in 2018. In addition, spending on food, clothing and fuel decreased over the period.

In 1968, families income was used on housing which sharply reaches to 10%. As compared to other, families spent 6% of income in 1968 on fuel and power. However, in 1968, clothing became the same as the housing 10%, respectively. Minimally, household goods sharply stood up to 7%. Furthermore, personal goods accounted for 8%, followed by transport and leisure, dramatically.

In 2018, food has the largest proportion of their weekly income that has seen to be 35%. Moreover, housing stood up to 19%, followed by leisure, marginally. Furthermore, clothing decreased to 5%, followed by personal goods, respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You provide an opening that identifies the chart and an overview that correctly notes food as the largest category in 1968 and housing as the largest in 2018. However, the overview then says food decreased, while the 2018 paragraph incorrectly reports food at 35%; it was about 17%. This central misreading, together with the omission of the major rise in leisure spending (from about 9% to 22%) and the fall in food, leaves the comparison only partially addressed. Several details are also incomplete or unclear: transport is not given a figure, and the 2018 paragraph does not report fuel, household goods or transport. Select the main changes accurately, then support them with clear figures for both years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for 1968 and 2018. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression within the detail paragraphs is weak, and several linking expressions do not clarify the relationships between figures. For example, “followed by transport and leisure, dramatically” gives neither values nor a clear comparison, while “followed by personal goods, respectively” is difficult to interpret. The 2018 paragraph also omits several categories, so the comparison feels incomplete. Grouping categories by whether they rose, fell or stayed similar, and using explicit comparisons such as “by contrast” or “while,” would make the organisation more coherent.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “proportion,” “accounted for,” “decreased” and “distributed,” and the reader can generally identify the topic of each sentence. However, several word combinations are unnatural or imprecise, such as “sharply reaches to 10%,” “stood up to 19%” and “followed by leisure, marginally.” “Minimally” is also not an appropriate way to describe a category’s share. These choices sometimes make the intended comparison difficult to understand, and “families income” shows an inaccurate form. Aim for precise reporting verbs and standard collocations for proportions and changes; this will make the vocabulary more reliable and suitable for describing data.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a range of sentence forms, including a contrast in the overview (“whereas housing became…”) and a subordinate clause in “food…that has seen to be 35%.” However, control is inconsistent, and several sentences contain errors that make the relationships between ideas unclear. Examples include “families income was used,” “housing which sharply reaches to 10%,” and “food has the largest proportion…that has seen to be 35%.” Tense also shifts between past and present when describing the two years. Use past simple consistently for the chart’s historical figures, check possessives and subject–verb agreement, and build shorter, complete sentences before attempting more complex structures.

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