Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 17 · 2026-11-04

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 bar chart provides information about how families in one country spent their weekly income from 1968 to 2018.

Overall, food accounted the higher proportion in the period, while fuel and power are the lowest weekly income by families.

The food shows highest percentage in 1968 at 35% which fromed a significant decreased to 17% in 2018. Clothing and footware falled from 10% to 5%, however, personal goods also decreased from 8% to 4%, while fuel and power demonstrate a slight fall like from 6% to 4%. In addition, the household goods are the the only weekly incomes which remained the same from 1968 to 2018 at 8%.

In the leisure there are a significant increased from 9% in 1968 to 22% in 2018, housing also shows a larger increased from 15% in 1968 and 19% in 2018, however transport formed a slight rise from 8% to 14% in 2018.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important changes, including the fall in food spending from 35% to 17%, the rise in leisure from 9% to 22%, and the unchanged 8% for household goods. However, the overview is inaccurate: food was the largest category in 1968, but leisure—not food—was largest in 2018; fuel and power was the smallest in both years. Housing is also misreported as 15% in 1968, whereas the chart shows 10%. The response covers the main categories but does not clearly summarise the overall shift in spending. It is also 11 words below the required 150-word minimum. Add a concise, accurate overview and check figures against the chart.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs describing decreases and increases. This makes the information reasonably easy to follow. Linking words such as “while,” “In addition,” and “however” help connect comparisons, although “however” is not always used smoothly and some sentences combine several figures without a clear hierarchy. For example, the paragraph beginning “The food shows highest percentage” moves through four declining categories in one long sequence. Grouping the changes more deliberately and using clearer transitions between contrasting trends would improve progression. The paragraphing is appropriate, but the overview should more clearly guide the reader through the main comparisons.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of chart vocabulary, including “proportion,” “decreased,” “remained the same,” and “slight rise,” so the main trends are generally understandable. There are also attempts at more descriptive language, such as “significant,” though some combinations are inaccurate or unnatural: “accounted the higher proportion,” “a significant decreased,” and “a larger increased.” The spelling “footware” is incorrect, and repeated use of “shows” and “from” limits variety. Choose accurate collocations such as “accounted for the largest share,” “fell significantly,” and “rose considerably.” More precise vocabulary would make the comparisons clearer and more natural without requiring unnecessarily complex wording.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, using clauses linked by “while,” “which,” and “however.” However, errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction are frequent enough to make some statements awkward. For example, “food accounted the higher proportion” is missing a necessary grammatical element, while “Clothing and footware falled” uses an incorrect past-tense form. In “the household goods are the the only weekly incomes which remained,” the article is repeated and the subject does not fit the plural noun “incomes.” The final sentence also has an unclear comparison structure: “housing also shows a larger increased from 15% … and 19%.” Practise accurate past-tense reporting and build shorter comparison sentences before combining ideas.

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