Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-03

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)

This cahrt illustrate that how the families in one country spent their weekly income in 1968 and in 2018.

As an overview, the chart sohwing the reports of families, how much are they spending in various categories.

To begin with, In 1968 families were spends on food, thirty five percent of their weekly income. On housing families spends on ten percent of their weekly income, In fuel and power five point five percent and clothing and footware ten percent. In household goods around six point two percent, personal goods six point two percent, transport as same as personal goods and on leisure around nine point five percent of their weekly income.

On the other hand, in 2018 families spends on food fifteen point five percent, housing around nineteen point five percent, fuel and power four point five, clothing and footware five percent, household goods around eight percent, personal goods four point five percent, transport fourteen point five percent and twenty percent of their weekly income.

This concludes that families should have to spend income in equal proportion, so that their income will not get wasted easily.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You report figures for all eight categories in both years, and several are close to the chart, including food at 35% in 1968, housing at about 19% in 2018, and household goods at 8% in 2018. However, the response does not give a clear, data-based overview of the main changes: it should highlight that food fell markedly, while leisure and housing became the largest spending categories in 2018. Some figures are inaccurate, such as 2018 food (about 17%, not 15.5%) and leisure (about 22%, not 20%); the 1968 household and personal goods figures are also about 8%, rather than 6.2%. The final advice about equal spending is not supported by the chart and is outside the task. Focus on summarising and comparing the data rather than recommending how families should spend.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic structure: an introduction, an overview attempt, a paragraph on 1968, and a paragraph on 2018. The year-by-year grouping makes the figures reasonably easy to locate, and phrases such as “On the other hand” signal a contrast. However, the overview does not identify the main trends, so the reader is left with lists of figures rather than a clear progression of key information. The final sentence shifts abruptly from reporting the chart to giving advice. Some linking and punctuation are also awkward, particularly the repeated use of “On” to begin clauses. To improve, organise the body around the most important comparisons—such as the fall in food spending and rises in leisure and housing—and use transitions to connect those trends.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use relevant category vocabulary, including “weekly income,” “housing,” “fuel and power,” and “household goods,” so the topic is generally clear. However, the range of reporting language is limited, with repeated forms of “families spends” and “of their weekly income.” Several spelling and word-choice errors reduce accuracy, including “cahrt,” “sohwing,” and “footware.” The phrase “This concludes that” is not a natural way to introduce a chart summary, and “income will not get wasted easily” is an imprecise, unsupported expression. Use a wider set of accurate verbs for describing data, such as “accounted for,” “rose,” and “declined,” and check spelling of chart labels. This would make the report more precise and appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts both simple statements and longer sentences, but grammatical control is weak and errors occur throughout. For example, “This cahrt illustrate that how” has incorrect subject–verb agreement and an unnecessary “that,” while “families were spends” combines incompatible verb forms. The sentence beginning “As an overview” is also incomplete in structure, and several clauses are joined with commas where full stops or clearer sentence boundaries are needed. These problems sometimes make the intended relationships difficult to follow. Practise accurate present and past forms for describing chart data, such as “families spent” and “the figure was,” and build complete sentences with a clear subject and verb. More reliable sentence patterns should come before attempts at longer constructions.

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