Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-11-05

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The pie charts below show how working adults in a particular country spent their time in 1958 and 2008.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

* Note: these aren’t the original diagrams given in the test, they were recreated for the purpose of demonstration.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The pie chart show the percentages of the day, spent by working adults on different activities, between 1958 and 2008.

Overall, adults spent most of their day on work, while they do not spent much time with their family and in traveling.

In 1958, working adults spend 33% of their day on work and slept 32%. Moreover, they relaxed at home only 8%. They went out with friends and family and played sport 19% and 7% of their day time respectively. They spent 2% of the day on travelling to work

In 2008, the priorities changed and working adults started spending equal time on playing sports and travelling to work and these contributed 7% of all. They slept 25% in 24 hours. Furthermore, they went out with family and friends 6% of the whole day.

All in all, their most time taking activity is to do work and they contributed 42% of the day while working in 2008.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the main broad pattern that work took the largest share of the day, and you report several figures accurately, including work at 33% in 1958 and 42% in 2008, and sleep falling to 25%. However, the overview is incomplete and partly inaccurate: the charts show that time spent travelling and with friends/family was relatively low, but relaxing at home and sports also need to be considered, and sports is not shown for 1958. The statement that adults played sport for 7% in 1958 misreads the chart; that category appears only in 2008. You also omit the 2008 figures for work and relaxing at home until the final sentence or entirely. Select the key changes and compare both years more consistently to make the summary fuller and clearer.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a brief overview, and separate paragraphs for 1958 and 2008. This gives the reader a basic route through the information. However, progression is limited because the years are described separately rather than being compared directly, and the final sentence repeats the point about work instead of drawing together the main changes. Some linking is mechanical, as in “Moreover,” “Furthermore,” and “All in all,” while the relationship between the figures in the 1958 paragraph is not always clear. For example, the sports figure is placed alongside the 1958 activities even though sports is listed only for 2008. Grouping the largest increases and decreases, with clear comparisons, would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the general subject, including “percentages,” “priorities,” “relaxed,” and “travelling to work.” However, the range is limited and several expressions are awkward or imprecise for describing chart data. “Most time taking activity” and “they contributed 42%” do not express the intended meaning naturally, while “spent 2% of the day on travelling” is an unnatural collocation. Repetition of “spent,” “day,” and “work” also makes the account less flexible. Aim for precise reporting phrases such as “accounted for,” “the proportion devoted to,” and “rose/fell,” while checking that each activity label matches the chart. These improvements would make the description more concise and natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response includes both simple sentences and some attempts at more complex structures, such as “while” in the overview and “and” to connect related information. Meaning is generally recoverable, but errors occur across the response. The opening needs subject–verb agreement and an article: “The pie chart show” should be “The pie charts show.” Tense is inconsistent in “adults spend” and “they do not spent”; use past forms when describing the years. There are also errors in “they relaxed … only 8%” and “They went out … and played sport 19%,” where the sentence patterns do not clearly connect the activity to its percentage. Use consistent past-tense reporting and complete structures such as “They spent 8% of the day relaxing at home.”

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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