Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-12

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 6.0)

The chart illustrates the contrast in daily activity for working adults in two distinct times of 1958 and 2008.

While working comprises the major part of both charts, the time spent in working drastically increased over years with a concomitant noticeable decrease in sleeping time. Not only working hours had increased over time but also working related time-travelling to work- showed an increase from 2 to 6% of the total daily time. Back in the days in 1958 people used to get more of quality time with each other with around 20% of the day time being spent with friends and family compared to a an only 6% in 2008.

Although people tend to spend more time in their jobs, yet they find more time more time to relax as the chart demonstrates. The chart shows consistent figures with the relation to percentage of time spent on playing sports.

Overall, the time spent over different daily activities had changed over years, with an incline towards working.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses the prompt by summarising the main features of the two pie charts and making relevant comparisons between 1958 and 2008. The writer identifies major trends, such as the increase in working hours and travel time, alongside decreases in sleeping and time spent with family. Key data points are cited to support these observations, like noting that time spent with friends and family fell from approximately 20% to just 6%. While the analysis is generally clear, some details could be developed with greater precision, particularly regarding the relaxation and sports categories. Overall, the content covers all parts of the task well, placing the response securely in the Band 6.5 to 7 range for this criterion, matching the descriptors for addressing all parts with clear comparisons.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a clear overall progression from an introductory statement through body paragraphs detailing specific activities to a concluding summary. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as "While working comprises...", "Not only working hours had increased...", and "Although people tend to spend...". However, some referencing and transitions feel slightly mechanical or awkward, as seen in the phrase "The chart shows consistent figures with the relation to percentage of time spent...", which lacks smooth integration. Paragraphing is used, though the body of the essay is somewhat dense and could be broken down further to clearly separate contrasting trends. Cohesion is generally adequate and logical, supporting a Band 6.0 performance under these descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms like "concomitant", "drastically increased", and "distinct times". There are, however, several lexical inaccuracies and awkward collocations that detract from precision, such as "working related time-travelling to work-" and "a an only 6%". The phrase "quality time with each other" is somewhat informal for an Academic Task 1 response. Spelling is generally accurate, but word choice errors point towards a Band 6 level, where the range is sufficient to communicate the main points but features occasional noticeable inaccuracies in less common vocabulary items.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including inverted structures like "Not only working hours had increased over time but also...". However, this specific attempt at inversion contains a grammatical error in tense usage ("had increased" instead of 'did working hours increase' or 'had working hours increased'). Other grammatical errors occur, such as "the time spent in working drastically increased over years" and redundant phrasing like "find more time more time to relax". Punctuation is mostly functional, and while errors are present, they rarely impede communication. The grammar profile aligns well with Band 6 descriptors, which highlight a mix of structures alongside persistent minor errors.

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

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