IELTS Essay Bank · Task 1 Academic · Pie chart
Household Spending Pie Charts: Band 8 Sample Answer
195 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 8 sample report
Highlighted = useful vocabularyThe two pie charts illustrate how the spending of an average household was distributed across five categories in 1995 and 2023.
Overall, the period saw a marked shift in priorities: housing overtook food as the largest single expense, and leisure took up considerably greater share of the budget, while the proportions devoted to food and miscellaneous items shrank.
In 1995, food and housing together made up more than half of all spending, at 30% and 25% respectively. Transport accounted for 15% and leisure for just 10%, while other items represented a fifth of the total.
By 2023, the share of housing has risen by ten percentage points to 35%, making it by far the dominant category. Food, by contrast, fell from 30% to 18%, so the combined share of these two essentials was only slightly lower than before, at 53% compared with 55%.
The most striking growth was in leisure, whose share doubled to 20%, which meant that households were spending slightly more on leisure than on food by the end of the period. Other spending moved in the opposite direction, halving to 10%, whereas transport remained broadly stable, edging up from 15% to 17%.
Word count: 195
Write your own answer → get an AI band score
The same question is ready on its practice page, with a Band 8–9 model answer to compare.
Why this is Band 8: criterion by criterion
Task Achievement
Band 8All requirements are covered sufficiently. The overview is clear and well selected, identifying both the change at the top (housing overtaking food) and the contrasting movements in leisure and miscellaneous spending. Key features are illustrated with well-chosen data and genuinely insightful comparisons — especially the calculation that housing and food together fell only from 55% to 53%, and the observation that leisure ended slightly ahead of food. All figures are accurate and no causes are speculated about, which is exactly what the task requires.
Coherence and Cohesion
Band 8Information is sequenced logically: the overview, the 1995 distribution, the two biggest changes, then the remaining categories grouped by direction ("moved in the opposite direction"). Cohesion is handled skilfully — "by contrast", "these two essentials" and "whereas" connect ideas without drawing attention to themselves, and the colon in the overview neatly introduces the detail. Paragraphing is logical and each paragraph has a clear focus, as expected at Band 8.
Lexical Resource
Band 8The writer uses a wide range of vocabulary flexibly and precisely: "a marked shift in priorities", "the dominant category", "halving" and "edging up" describe proportions and changes of different sizes with accuracy. The categories are paraphrased naturally ("miscellaneous items", "these two essentials"), avoiding the repetition common at lower bands. "Percentage points" is used correctly, which many candidates get wrong. There are no noticeable lexical errors, so Band 8 is fully justified.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Band 7The range of structures is wide — a possessive relative clause ("whose share doubled"), participle clauses ("making it by far the dominant category", "halving to 10%") and the past continuous for a situation at a point in time ("were spending"). However, there are a few errors that hold grammar at Band 7: a tense error ("By 2023, the share of housing has risen" should be had risen), a missing article ("took up considerably greater share" — a considerably greater share), and the last paragraph's opening sentence stacks two relative clauses ("whose share doubled to 20%, which meant…"), which is slightly awkward.
Useful vocabulary and collocations
- a marked shift
- a formal, precise collocation for a clear change in pattern; ideal for overviews.
- made up more than half
- combines two categories to make a meaningful comparison.
- percentage points
- the correct unit for the difference between two percentages.
- doubled to
- proportional language that is more informative than repeating both figures.
- remained broadly stable
- "broadly" signals a very small change without calling it "unchanged".
How this report could reach Band 9
- 1Check tense sequence with "By + past date": use the past perfect (By 2023, the share had risen…).
- 2Break up long sentences that chain two relative clauses — for instance, end the sentence after "doubled to 20%" and start a new one with As a result, households were spending….
This is an original sample report written by IELTS-Bank to illustrate Band 8 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.