Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-11-06

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 4.0)

The given pie graph illustrate the number of percentages of the day spent by working adults on various activities in a particular country between 1958 and 2008.

On the whole, going out with friends or family percentage decreased and the number of poportion of relaxing at home increased in the given period.

In 1958, working act

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies two relevant overall changes: going out with friends or family declined, while relaxing at home increased. However, it does not provide a complete summary of the charts or report any usable figures. The sentence beginning “In 1958, working act” is unfinished, so the main categories and comparisons are left unexplained; important changes such as the rise in working time and the fall in sleeping time are not covered. The response also falls well short of the required 150 words, leaving too little information to select and report the main features. To improve, complete the account with accurate figures and comparisons, and include a clear overview of the most significant changes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.0

There is a basic attempt to organise the response: an introductory sentence is followed by an overview beginning “On the whole”. This gives the reader a simple starting structure. However, the response stops during “In 1958, working act”, so there is no developed body paragraph or logical progression through the chart information. Connections between categories and years are not established, and the overview is not supported with details. Use separate paragraphs for the overview and key comparisons, then organise the figures by notable increases and decreases. Completing each sentence and linking comparisons clearly would make the information easier to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses some task-relevant vocabulary, including “pie graph”, “working adults”, “activities”, and “decreased” and “increased”, so the general topic is understandable. However, the range is narrow, and several expressions are inaccurate or awkward: “the number of percentages” and “the number of poportion” do not describe chart shares naturally. There is also a spelling error in “poportion”. Use precise terms such as “proportion”, “percentage”, and “accounted for”, and vary the language for comparisons, for example “rose from” and “fell to”. More accurate collocations would make the limited information clearer and more appropriate for an academic report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response attempts simple sentence forms, and the opening sentence communicates the topic despite its errors. However, grammatical control is uneven. In “The given pie graph illustrate”, the singular subject requires “illustrates”; “between 1958 and 2008” is also an awkward way to describe the two chart years. The overview sentence has a faulty construction in “going out with friends or family percentage decreased”, and the final sentence is incomplete. These problems make the writing less clear and leave little evidence of a range of structures. Practise accurate subject–verb agreement and complete comparison sentences, such as “The proportion of adults going out fell between the two years.”

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

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