Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-17
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 data depicts the variation of the time spent by adults who were working on a variety of activities throughout the day in two different years that were 1958 and 2008.
Overall, in both the mentioned years other than working people spent their time on vast number of activities. However, in the year 2008 the category of activities had risen significantly.
Even though the time had changed but the major part of the day was still occupied in working with 42% in 2008 and 33% in 1958. Followed by working people opted to sleep as much as possible with 32% in 1958 however as the time changed working professionals in 2008 compromised their time with 25% on sleeping to other activities
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0
The response makes a clear attempt to summarise the two pie charts, noting the main trends such as the dominance of working and sleeping, and the introduction of new categories like playing sports in 2008. However, the response fails to meet the minimum word count of 150 words, stopping abruptly at only 121 words. Because of this severe under-length penalty, the task cannot be fully developed. Furthermore, some data points are generalised without sufficient detail, and key comparisons between all categories are missing. To improve, the student must ensure they write at least 150 words and provide a more comprehensive overview of all data categories.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0
The response has an introduction, a brief overall statement, and a body paragraph. However, the paragraphing is incomplete and the text trails off mid-sentence at the end. Cohesive devices are used in a basic manner, such as 'Overall', 'Even though', and 'Followed by', but referencing and logical progression are occasionally strained. For instance, the transition 'Followed by working people opted to sleep' is awkward and lacks clear connection to the preceding sentence. To reach a higher band, the student needs to organise ideas into fully formed paragraphs and use cohesive devices more naturally to guide the reader through the data comparisons.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.0
The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, with terms like 'variation', 'professionals', and 'compromised'. However, there are noticeable limitations and inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'opted to sleep as much as possible' and 'compromised their time... to other activities'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary, but word choices occasionally sound unnatural. To improve lexical resource, the student should incorporate more precise, topic-specific vocabulary related to data trends and time allocation, avoiding informal or imprecise phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0
The response includes a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as concessive clauses ('Even though the time had changed...'). However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are punctuation issues, particularly run-on sentences and a lack of proper comma usage in complex structures (e.g., 'in both the mentioned years other than working people spent their time'). Additionally, the final sentence is incomplete, breaking off abruptly. To achieve a higher band, the student needs to demonstrate better control over complex sentence patterns and ensure all sentences are grammatically complete and punctuated correctly.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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