Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · 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 6.0)

The pie chart illustrates how employed people in a certain country consumed their time in the year 1958 and 2008.

Overall, most of the time of a person was spent working and sleeping in both the years. On the other hand, utilizing one's free time has differed a lot between the two years.

The time spent on working, sleeping and commuting to work has differed slightly in both the years. In 2008, time spent traveling to work increased more than thrice the percentage in the year 1958. Moreover, the working time increased nearly 10% in 2008 while the time given to sleep dropped by 7% than that of 1958.

A person's recreational time apart from work and sleep was mostly spent with friends and family in 1958 (19%), while in 2008 it was spent mostly by relaxing at home (13%). Time spent with friends and family dropped nearly thrice the percentage in 2008 than that of the other year. On the other hand, time given to sports remained nearly the same in both years.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the pie charts for both 1958 and 2008. An overview is provided, highlighting that working and sleeping dominated both years while recreational patterns changed significantly. Key data points are correctly cited and compared, such as the increase in working time from 33% to 42% and the drop in sleeping time from 32% to 25%. However, there are a few minor inaccuracies in interpretation, such as stating that time spent on working, sleeping, and commuting 'differed slightly' when working actually experienced a notable 9% increase. Additionally, 'playing sports' (7% in 2008) is mentioned only briefly at the end without fully integrating its absence in 1958. Despite these minor flaws, the response presents a clear and relevant summary of the data.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The response is organized into four distinct paragraphs, following a logical structure with an introduction, an overall summary, and two body paragraphs detailing specific trends. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader through the comparisons, such as 'Overall', 'On the other hand', and 'Moreover'. However, some cohesive phrasing is slightly unnatural or mechanically deployed, such as 'dropped nearly thrice the percentage in 2008 than that of the other year', which creates confusion regarding the mathematical proportion being described. Paragraphing is handled appropriately, ensuring that each paragraph has a distinct focus, thereby maintaining a coherent overall arrangement throughout the essay.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a Task 1 response, successfully employing terms like 'consumed', 'utilizing', 'recreational time', and 'commuting'. Less common lexical items are attempted, although some word choices and collocations are slightly awkward or inaccurate, such as 'consumed their time' instead of 'spent their time' and 'increased more than thrice' when referring to a percentage change from 2% to 7%. Spelling is accurate throughout the text, and while vocabulary is sufficient to convey the main ideas clearly, minor lexical infelicities prevent the score from reaching a higher band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The response exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, demonstrating attempts at comparative forms like 'increased more than thrice the percentage' and 'dropped nearly 7% than that of 1958'. Grammatical control is generally fair, with many sentences remaining error-free, but minor errors and awkward phrasing persist, such as 'in both the years' instead of 'in both years' and the confusing comparative structure 'dropped nearly thrice the percentage in 2008 than that of the other year'. Punctuation is used correctly, and the errors present do not impede communication, placing the writing comfortably within the Band 6 descriptor.

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

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