Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-14
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 illustrates that how working adults used to spend their time under a specific era of time. The chart compares the data between years of 1958 and 2008.
Overall, it is clear that enormous changes took place from 1958 to 2008. In both years, people spent most of time in working and the lowest in travelling to work. The most significant change can be seen in the percentage of going out with families and friends that has been decreased twice than it was in 1958.
Working accounts for 33% in 1958 along with sleeping 32% and 8% proportion of relaxing at home. Meanwhile in 2008, working activity increased 10 times with an enormous fall in sleeping percentage that fell down to 25% along with 5% decrease in relaxing at home.
Moreover, in 1958 there was a 19% of total time of the days people used to spend with families that went down to 6% with increased work load and travelling for work that increased from 2% to While the ratio of playing sports remained same during both years.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The response covers the main features of the pie charts comparing 1958 and 2008, though some data points contain inaccuracies or strange mathematical interpretations, such as stating working activity increased '10 times' or that family time decreased 'twice'. Additionally, the final sentence trails off incompletely ('...from 2% to While the ratio...'). However, an overview is provided and key categories like working and sleeping are identified and compared. The response is awarded a Band 5.5 because while it attempts to address all parts of the task and makes comparisons, the data interpretation is occasionally inaccurate or exaggerated, and the conclusion of the final paragraph is incomplete.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The essay is organised into paragraphs, beginning with an introduction, followed by an overview, and then body paragraphs detailing specific data. Cohesive devices such as 'Meanwhile', 'Moreover', and 'In both years' are used to guide the reader. However, paragraphing is somewhat erratic, with very short single-sentence paragraphs used in the body. Additionally, referencing and logical progression are occasionally flawed, such as the incomplete sentence at the end of the text. Overall, the essay demonstrates a coherent overall arrangement but suffers from mechanical cohesion and insufficient development within paragraphs, warranting a Band 6.0.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for the task, including terms like 'illustrates', 'enormous changes', 'proportion', and 'percentage'. However, there are notable lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing, such as 'under a specific era of time', 'decreased twice', and 'working activity increased 10 times' (which misreads 33% to roughly 60-something percent). Less common vocabulary is attempted with mixed success. These errors do not completely impede communication, placing the response firmly at Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'The pie chart illustrates that how working adults...' and 'In both years, people spent most of time in working...'. However, there are several grammatical errors and awkward structures, including redundant prepositional phrasing ('spent most of time in working') and an incomplete clause ('...from 2% to While the ratio of playing sports remained same'). Punctuation and article usage also need refinement. Because the errors occur frequently enough to cause some difficulty or miscommunication, a Band 5.0 is appropriate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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