Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · 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 4.5)

The bar chart illustrate how household in particularly country allocated their weekly earnings over the period from 1968 to 2018.

Overall, it is clear that the figure of food in rose signaficantly compared to current year. Moreover housing spending decreased in other year. In short various was rise than 2018 however, some were equal or lower than 1968.

First group of catogaries with figure, that spending on food was largest proportional of weekly income in 1968 compare to 2018 which was moderate. Housing was decreased in 1968 but grown till to 2018.

Fuel and power both were generating low income but in 1968 was higher than 2018. Clothing and footware were with generating

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

You identify the chart’s topic and make an attempt to compare the two years, including noting that food was a major category and that housing rose by 2018. However, the overview contains serious inaccuracies: food did not rise; it fell from about 35% to 17%, while housing increased from 10% to 19%. The claim that housing “decreased” also conflicts with your later statement that it “grown.” Most categories are not reported, and the response ends before completing the comparison of clothing and footwear. At 113 words, it also falls 37 words short of the required minimum. To improve, give an accurate overview of the largest changes, then report several key figures for both years.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response with an introduction, an overview beginning “Overall,” and a paragraph that starts to discuss individual categories. This gives the reader some sense of the intended structure. However, progression is difficult to follow because the overview is unclear and internally contradictory, particularly the statements that housing “decreased” and then “grown.” Phrases such as “In short various was rise than 2018” do not clearly connect the ideas, and the final sentence is unfinished. Use a clear overview followed by logically grouped comparisons, and connect each point with accurate, simple linking language such as “By contrast” or “Meanwhile.”

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

You use some task-related vocabulary, including “bar chart,” “weekly earnings,” “proportional,” and category names such as “Fuel and power.” This shows an attempt to describe the data rather than relying entirely on general language. However, inaccurate word choice and spelling often make the meaning unclear: “figure of food in rose,” “various was rise,” and “generating low income” are not suitable ways to describe spending proportions. There are also spelling errors in “signaficantly,” “catogaries,” and “footware.” Build a reliable set of chart-description phrases, such as “accounted for,” “increased to,” and “fell from,” and check spelling and collocations before finishing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts several sentence forms, including an overview introduced by “Overall” and comparisons using “compared to” and “than.” Some basic meaning can be recovered, but errors in sentence structure and verb forms are frequent enough to make several statements difficult to understand. For example, “The bar chart illustrate” has subject–verb disagreement, while “Housing was decreased in 1968 but grown till to 2018” has faulty verb forms and an unclear time relationship. The sentence beginning “First group of catogaries with figure” is also incomplete, and the final sentence is unfinished. Practise complete subject–verb sentences and use simple past forms consistently when comparing the two years.

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