Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · 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 5.5)

The provided chart illustrates how families in the same country consume their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018. Overall, it is obvious that in the past people was spend about half of their weekly income on food, while their consumption for fuel and power very was low.

In 1968, the highest weekly spending by families was on food (35%), housing and clothing and footware come second by 10%, leisure was in the third place by 9%, house hold goods and personal good and trasport were in the forth place by 8%, fuel and power were the lowest spending by only 6%.

In 2018, we find the leisure become in the first place of weekly spending by families (22%), while housig comes second with 19%, then spending on food was 17%, then trasport was 14%, house hold goods were 8%, then clothing and footware were 5%, while the lowest spending was on fuel and power and on personal goods.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main shift from food being the largest category in 1968 to leisure leading in 2018, and you report several figures accurately, including food at 35% and 17%, and leisure at 9% and 22%. However, the overview is incomplete: it says fuel and power spending was very low but does not summarise the broader changes, such as the rise in housing and transport and the fall in clothing and personal goods. The claim that people spent “about half” their income on food is also inaccurate; the chart shows 35%. Some comparisons are presented as rankings rather than explaining how spending changed between the years. A clearer overview and more selective, accurate comparisons would make the response more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear basic structure: an introduction and overview are followed by separate paragraphs for 1968 and 2018. This makes the two years easy to follow, and sequencing words such as “while” and “then” help organise the category lists. However, the progression is somewhat mechanical, with repeated ranking language (“comes second,” “then,” “in the first place”) rather than comparisons that connect the years. The overview also does not prepare the reader for the main changes described later. Grouping categories that rose, fell or stayed similar, and using clearer links between the two years, would create a more cohesive account.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant chart vocabulary, including “weekly spending,” “highest,” “lowest,” and “consumption,” so the topic is generally clear. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or awkward: “consume their weekly income” is not a natural way to describe spending, and “spending ... was on food” is repeated through ranking phrases. There are also noticeable spelling errors, including “footware,” “house hold,” “trasport,” and “housig,” which reduce the accuracy and polish of the report. Use precise terms such as “accounted for” or “share of income,” and check spelling carefully. More varied language for increases, decreases and stable figures would also help.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response uses some simple sentences and attempts longer structures, including a contrast with “while” and a sequence of categories. However, errors in verb forms and agreement are frequent enough to make parts of the report awkward. For example, “people was spend” should be “people spent,” and “the leisure become” should be “leisure became.” The phrase “fuel and power very was low” has an incorrect word order and verb construction; write, for example, “spending on fuel and power was very low.” The long sentence listing several 1968 categories also needs clearer punctuation and grammatical parallelism. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and build comparisons with controlled, complete clauses.

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