Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-16
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 following pie charts represents the data collected about what activities working adult do in their daytime.The comparison is carried out between two distinct years and across 6 various activites.
In 1958, majority of the adults , about 65% combinely used to spend their time by working or sleeping, while there was few numbers of adult that perform activities like relaxing , travelleing or playing sports that is 8%, 2% and 7% respectively.Also some adults spend their time with family or friends by going out.Whereas in the year 2008, the number of working adult increased to 42% and the number for sleeping activity shows some declination. Althought activities like Relaxing at home increased a bit , but adults reduced spending time with friends and family. Playing sports and Travelling were the activites where minimal or no changes can be seen in the charts.
Overall, Working and relaxing shows an inclination in the year 2008, as compared to sleeping and going out shows a negative trend.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5
The student addresses all parts of the task by comparing data from two distinct years (1958 and 2008) across multiple activities. An overview is present at the end, identifying general trends. Key features are selected, such as the combined percentage for working and sleeping in 1958 and the rise in working hours in 2008. However, there are some inaccuracies in reporting the data; for instance, the student states that playing sports and travelling showed 'minimal or no changes', whereas sports rose from 0% (absent in 1958) to 7% in 2008, and travelling to work increased from 2% to 7%. These misreadings prevent the response from achieving a higher band. Ideas are relevant, but some data details are under-developed or imprecise.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The response has a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, body paragraph, and an overview section. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the introduction, main body details, and summary. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, transitional phrases like 'Also some adults spend...' and 'Whereas in the year 2008...' feel slightly awkward, and referencing or linking between ideas lacks seamless integration. Paragraph transitions could be smoother, and cohesive devices are occasionally overused or imprecise. Overall logical organization is maintained, but mechanical faults hold it at Band 6.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'distinct years', 'majority', 'declination', and 'inclination'. There are, however, noticeable word-choice and spelling errors that affect precision, such as 'activites', 'trabelleing', 'Althought', and the awkward collocation 'combinely used to spend'. Less common vocabulary is attempted with some inaccuracy, such as using 'declination' instead of 'decrease' or 'decline'. Despite these errors, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the general message without severely impeding communication, fitting the Band 6 descriptor well.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'In 1958, majority of the adults , about 65% combinely used to spend...' and 'Althought activities like Relaxing at home increased a bit , but adults reduced spending time...'. There are several grammatical errors and punctuation flaws, including missing articles ('majority of the adults', 'few numbers of adult'), spelling/form errors, and redundant conjunction use ('Althought... but'). Complex structures are often faulty, and punctuation spacing issues are frequent. However, meaning remains mostly clear, which aligns with the characteristics of Band 5.5 to 6.0. Given the frequency of errors in complex structures, a score of 5.5 is appropriate.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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