Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-08-29

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 5.0)

The pie charts display the information about the percentages of the day spent by working adults on various activities such as sleeping, relaxing, and travelling between 1958 and 2008.

Overall, it can be seen that the young people spent their highest time on working, but only a few times spent with family and playing sports.

Firstly, in 1958 mostly young people is busy on works at 33%, and only a few hours spent on travelling to work at 2%. Some individuals spent more times on sleeping peak at 32%, or the public spent a quarter of times with family and friends reach at 19%. The small numbers of people spent time at home.

Secondly, many people spent times on working approximately at 42%, but the little numbers of people spent time on playing games and travelling to work at both 7%. The people large amounts of time spent on sleeping at 25%, and just over 6% times spent with family and friends.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response identifies the main features of the pie charts, such as the shift in working hours and sleep patterns. However, the analysis is hampered by inaccurate reporting of data and a misunderstanding of the subject matter. For example, you refer to 'young people' throughout the text, whereas the prompt specifies 'working adults'. Additionally, the data interpretation is inconsistent; you state that working hours were 33% in 1958, but the chart shows 32%. The description of the 2008 data is also confusing, particularly the claim that 'little numbers of people' spent time on playing games, which misrepresents the visual data. To improve, ensure you accurately transcribe figures and maintain an objective tone without adding external assumptions about the age of the subjects.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. You use basic cohesive devices like 'Firstly' and 'Secondly' to signal the transition between the two years. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes unclear due to awkward phrasing, such as 'the public spent a quarter of times with family and friends reach at 19%'. The use of referencing is also problematic; the transition between sentences often feels disjointed, and the lack of clear logical links between the data points makes the overall flow mechanical. To reach a higher band, focus on using a wider variety of linking words and ensure that each sentence logically follows the previous one.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary is somewhat limited and repetitive, relying heavily on basic structures like 'spent time on' and 'numbers of people'. There are several instances of imprecise word choice, such as 'peak at 32%' (which is a static figure, not a peak) and 'reach at 19%'. The phrasing 'the public spent a quarter of times' is also unnatural. While the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the basic meaning, it lacks the precision and range required for higher bands. You should aim to incorporate more varied verbs and nouns related to data description, such as 'accounted for', 'constituted', 'a significant proportion', or 'a marginal increase'.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mix of simple and some attempted complex sentences, but grammatical errors are frequent and occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('mostly young people is busy'), incorrect preposition usage ('spent times on working'), and awkward sentence construction ('the little numbers of people spent time on playing games'). There are also issues with pluralisation and article usage. While the meaning is generally understandable, the high frequency of errors in basic sentence structures prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focusing on subject-verb agreement and consistent tense usage would significantly improve the quality of your writing.

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

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