Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-11-09

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 charts represents job holder adults in a different nation spent their hours between 1958 and 2008.

Overall, there is a signficant rise in working, travelling to work, relaxing at home and playing sport and other has decreased gradually.

Looking in to the figures of pie charts, working hours is increased from 32% to 42% in 2008. Similarly, relaxing at home has increased 5% in second year and travelling to work was 2% in 1958 and grow to 7% then playing sports becomes 7% in 2008 which shows people now more focused on their work.

Turning towards in to the figures of pie charts, sleeping people were 32% in 1958 and in 2008 it decreased to 25 % which shows people didnot grt the proper sleepand going out was 19% and downwards up to 6% because of work load and exhaustion.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify several important changes, including the rise in working time and travel, and the falls in sleeping and socialising. However, some figures are inaccurate: working was 33% in 1958, not 32%, and relaxing at home rose from 8% to 13%, so the increase was five percentage points rather than simply “increased 5%.” The overview also says “other has decreased gradually,” which is unclear and overlooks that playing sports appears only in 2008. Explanations such as people being more focused on work or getting insufficient sleep are not shown by the charts. The response is also eight words below the required minimum. Include a clearer overview and report the chart data without unsupported causes.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a basic overall structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs describing figures. This gives the reader some organisation, and phrases such as “Overall” and “Similarly” signal relationships between points. However, progression within the detail paragraphs is uneven: the second paragraph moves from working to relaxing, travel and sport without a clear grouping, while “Turning towards in to the figures” repeats the earlier framing rather than creating a smooth transition. Some links are also unclear, particularly “other has decreased gradually,” and the final causal explanations interrupt the chart summary. Group the increases together and the decreases together, use precise references to the activities, and make each paragraph develop one clear comparison.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for describing charts, including “increased,” “decreased,” “figures,” and “Overall,” so the main topic is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and several choices are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “job holder adults,” “different nation,” “downwards up to 6%,” and “focused on their work.” “Other” is also too vague when referring to the activities that declined. Spelling errors, including “signficant” and “didnot,” further reduce control. Aim for precise chart language and natural collocations, for example “working adults,” “rose to,” and “fell from … to ….” Avoid adding evaluative phrases that the data cannot support.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more extended sentences, including a comparison with “Similarly” and a relative clause beginning “which shows.” However, errors are frequent, and some sentences are difficult to follow. For example, “The pie charts represents” has subject–verb disagreement, while “working hours is increased” uses an incorrect verb form. The sentence beginning “Similarly” also joins several comparisons without clear grammatical structure, and “sleeping people were 32%” does not express the intended meaning accurately. There are problems with articles, prepositions and sentence boundaries, as well as missing spaces in “didnot grt the proper sleepand.” Practise accurate past-tense reporting and build shorter, complete comparison sentences before combining ideas.

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

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