Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The bar chart illustrates the proportion of weekly income spending on different activities by public in one country in 1968 and 2018.

Overall, food was accounted for the highest percentage of spending in 1968. In contrast, personal goods showed up lowest amount of money spending in 2018. The value for household goods were same in both years.

Firstly, 35% of money was utilized by families on food items in 1968, while around 17% in 2018. Housing accounted for 10% in 1968 and near twice in 2018. Spending on fuel and power was 4% and 6% in 2018 and 1968 respectively. Money spending on clothing and footware was 10% in 1968, fell down to half in 2018.

Money spending on household goods, personal goods and transport were same in 1968 at around 8%. Spending on personal goods remained half in 2018, while for transport it went near 15% in 2018. Leisure accounted for 9% in 1968 value increased to above double in 2018 at 22%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

You cover the main categories and make several accurate comparisons, including the fall in food spending from 35% to 17%, the rise in leisure to 22%, and the unchanged household-goods figure. Your overview identifies food as the largest item in 1968 and household goods as stable, but it misidentifies the lowest category in 2018: fuel and personal goods are both at 4%, rather than personal goods alone. The overview would be stronger if it also highlighted the broad shift away from food towards leisure and housing. Most figures are reported accurately, though the housing comparison (“near twice”) is imprecise. This is a relevant, generally clear summary, but some key features are less fully or precisely presented.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs grouping the figures. “Overall” and “Firstly” help signal the structure, and the final paragraph moves through the remaining categories in a generally understandable way. However, the sequencing within that paragraph is somewhat list-like, and the repeated phrase “Money spending” makes the links between comparisons mechanical. The overview also separates the unchanged household-goods figure from the main trends without explaining its significance. To strengthen progression, group the categories by their direction of change—for example, decreases, increases, and little or no change—and use clearer references such as “this proportion” where appropriate.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use enough vocabulary to describe the chart and changes, including “proportion,” “accounted for,” “remained,” and “increased.” The meaning is generally clear, but several choices are unnatural or imprecise for this task. “By public” does not accurately describe family spending, while “money spending” and “utilized by families on food items” are awkward collocations. “Activities” is also too broad for categories such as housing and fuel. There is some repetition of “spending” and “accounted for,” and “footware” is misspelled. More precise terms such as “share of weekly income,” “expenditure,” and “category” would improve clarity and range while keeping the report concise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mix of simple and more complex forms, and several comparisons are understandable, such as “while around 17% in 2018” and “increased to above double in 2018.” However, some sentence patterns contain errors or incomplete clauses. In “food was accounted for the highest percentage,” the passive construction is not formed correctly; “food accounted for the highest share” would be grammatical. “The value for household goods were same” has subject–verb disagreement and a missing article, while “while around 17% in 2018” lacks a complete clause. The final sentence also needs a clearer grammatical link between the 1968 figure and its increase. Aim for complete, accurately controlled comparison sentences, while retaining the range you are beginning to show.

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