Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The given chart illustrates the average weekly spending by famillies in a country. It is clear that people spent more on foods than any other expence catogory in the 1968. By contrast in 2018, they spent more on their lessure activities.

In 1968, famillies spent the majority from their revenue for foods. The second highest expenditure catogories were the housing and clothing and footware. They accounted for 10% from the weekly revenue. Families spent 9% from their income for lessure activities in 1968. However, 8% from their income for transport, personal goods and household goods respectively in 1968.

By contrast, people spent majority of their income for lessure activities in 2018 while, housing responsible for 19% of their weekly expenditures. Expenditure for foods was 17% of their total income showing a 13% decline compare to 1968. People spent 14% of their income for transport, which is almost double than that figure in 1968. Interestingly the expenditure on personal goods in 2018 remains the same amount as in 1968.

Overall, in 2018 families spent thier income for leisure activities and housing rather than spent on foods and clothings.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main contrast accurately: food was the largest category in 1968, while leisure led in 2018, and you report several relevant figures, including housing at 10% and 19% and food falling to 17%. However, some comparisons are inaccurate or unclear. Food fell from 35% to 17%, a decrease of 18 percentage points, not 13%. Personal goods did not remain the same: it declined from 8% to 4%. The overview also says families spent more on leisure and housing rather than food and clothing, but could more clearly summarise the major shifts across the chart. Include the notable rise in transport and the unchanged household-goods share to make the comparison more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The response has a clear overall structure: an introduction and overview are followed by paragraphs describing 1968 and 2018, with “By contrast” helping signal the comparison. The information generally progresses logically, and the reader can follow the main categories. To make the organisation more effective, avoid repeating the same contrast and ensure each paragraph develops a clear comparison rather than listing figures. For example, the 2018 paragraph could directly compare leisure’s rise from 9% to 22% and transport’s increase from 8% to 14% with the declines in food and clothing. Some linking, such as “while,” is used awkwardly in “while, housing responsible,” so check that connectors join complete, grammatically compatible ideas.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “expenditure,” “accounted for,” “decline,” and “by contrast,” which helps communicate the chart’s subject. Some choices are imprecise or unnatural, however: “spent the majority from their revenue for foods” and “housing responsible for 19%” do not express the intended relationships naturally. Prefer concise collocations such as “allocated the largest share of their income to food” and “housing accounted for 19%.” There are also repeated spelling errors in “famillies,” “expence,” “catogories,” “lessure,” and “thier,” which weaken accuracy. Use the chart’s category labels consistently, such as “food,” “leisure,” and “clothing and footwear,” rather than switching to less precise forms.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons with “while” and “which,” and the overall meaning is usually clear. Some grammatical errors remain. For example, “in the 1968” uses an unnecessary article, and “housing responsible for 19%” is missing the verb “was.” In “showing a 13% decline compare to 1968,” the participle and comparison pattern are not formed correctly; a clearer structure would be “which was an 18-percentage-point decline from 1968.” The sentence beginning “However, 8% from their income…” is also a fragment because it lacks a main verb. Check articles, complete clauses, and verb forms, while continuing to use varied sentence structures.

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