IELTS Essay Bank · Task 1 Academic · Pie chart
Household Spending Pie Charts: Band 6 Sample Answer
179 words · Topic: Money & economy, Society ·
The question
The two pie charts below show how an average household divided its spending across five categories in 1995 and in 2023.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
Chart data (summarised):
- 1995: Housing 25%, Food 30%, Transport 15%, Leisure 10%, Other 20%.
- 2023: Housing 35%, Food 18%, Transport 17%, Leisure 20%, Other 10%.
Band 6 sample report
Highlighted = useful vocabularyThe pie charts shows how an average household spent money on five catagories in 1995 and 2023.
Overall, housing became the largest share in 2023 and food was less than before.
In 1995, food was the biggest catagory with 30 percent, and housing was 25 percent. Other was 20 percent, transport was 15 percent and leasure was the smallest with only 10 percent.
In 2023, the situation was different. Housing was increase to 35 percent and it was the biggest. Maybe this is because the price of houses became very high in many cities. On the other hand, food dropped to 18 percent, so it decreased 12 percent.
Leasure was 10 percent in 1995 but in 2023 it was 20 percent, so it was two times more. Other was decreased from 20 percent to 10 percent. Transport was nearly same, it only rose slightly from 15 to 17 percent. In comparison with food, leasure was a little bigger in 2023.
In conclusion, people in 2023 spend more money for housing and leasure and less for food and other things.
Word count: 179
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Why this is Band 6: criterion by criterion
Task Achievement
Band 6All five categories are reported accurately for both years, and the key change — housing replacing food as the largest item — is identified, so the task is adequately addressed. The overview is present but weak: it mentions only housing and food, and misses the doubling of leisure and the halving of "Other". The sentence "Maybe this is because the price of houses became very high in many cities" speculates about a cause the chart does not show; this is irrelevant in Task 1 and should be removed. The phrase "decreased 12 percent" is also imprecise — the fall is 12 percentage points — which is the kind of minor inaccuracy that keeps this at Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion
Band 6The report is organised clearly — 1995, then 2023, then the remaining changes — so there is an overall progression. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty: "On the other hand" introduces the fall in food, which does not contrast with the point before it, and the conclusion simply repeats the overview. Sentences are often joined only with "and" or "so", and the one-sentence overview paragraph feels disconnected. This fits Band 6: coherent overall, but mechanical in places.
Lexical Resource
Band 5The vocabulary is only just adequate for the task, which is why Lexical Resource is Band 5 while the other criteria are 6. There is heavy repetition of "was … percent" and "biggest", and very little paraphrase of the categories. Spelling errors are noticeable and repeated — "catagories"/"catagory" and "leasure" (four times) — and there are word-choice problems such as "two times more" (twice as much), "nearly same" (almost the same) and "spend more money for" (on). Correct phrases like "dropped to" and "rose slightly" show potential, but the range is limited.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Band 6There is a mix of simple and some complex forms, such as a reason clause ("Maybe this is because…") and result clauses with "so", although most sentences are short and simple. Errors are frequent but rarely stop communication: agreement ("The pie charts shows"), incorrect passives ("Housing was increase", "Other was decreased"), a comma splice ("Transport was nearly same, it only rose slightly") and a tense slip in the conclusion ("people in 2023 spend"). This is typical Band 6 control.
Useful vocabulary and collocations
- the largest share
- correct and useful; an upgrade is accounted for the largest proportion of spending.
- the smallest
- clear, but for Band 7 write represented the smallest proportion.
- dropped to
- accurate use of the preposition "to" for the new value; fell sharply to adds degree.
- rose slightly
- precise for a small change; edged up is a less common alternative.
- in comparison with
- a good comparison phrase; follow it with a full clause, e.g. In comparison with food, leisure took a slightly larger share.
How this report could reach Band 7
- 1Write a fuller overview that covers the main shifts: Overall, housing replaced food as the largest expense, while the share spent on leisure doubled and "Other" halved.
- 2Remove any explanation of causes (house prices) and describe changes in percentage points rather than "percent".
- 3Learn the spelling of the chart's own words (category, leisure) and vary the verbs — accounted for, made up, represented — instead of repeating "was … percent".
This is an original sample report written by IELTS-Bank to illustrate Band 6 against the public IELTS Writing band descriptors. The band scores are our assessment, not an official IELTS result. IELTS-Bank is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia, or Cambridge University Press & Assessment. "IELTS" is a registered trademark of its respective owners and is used here for descriptive purposes only.