Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-19

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 both pie chart illustrates the proportions of the day spend by working adults on different activities in a particular country in 1958 and 2008.

Overall, working cake of the largest share of spending time over the both year whereas, others activities experienced a dramatically increased and decreased over the period.

Working accounted for the highest proportion in both 1958 at 33% and 42% in 2008. Followed bye sleeping the little changes saw in figure 32% in 1958 and 25% in 2008 respectively. Playing sport and travelling to work represented equal proportions in the year of 2008 around 7%. In contrast, 1958 the travelling to work consumer only 2% and playing sport at 6%.

Relaxing at home road marginally grow in 2008 at 13% while rapidly dicline in the yers 1958 around 8%. Going out with the family friends see the significantly decline from 1958 to 2008 approximately at 19% to 6%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The response successfully covers all the key features of the two pie charts, presenting data for both 1958 and 2008 accurately. The student correctly identifies working as the largest activity in both years (33% rising to 42%) and notes changes in sleeping, travelling to work, and relaxing at home. An overview is attempted in the second paragraph, though it contains awkward phrasing. While the support and comparisons are generally adequate and align with the visual data, the interpretation of some trends is slightly confused lexically (e.g., describing relaxing at home as a decline in 1958 rather than a comparison between years). Overall, the task is addressed satisfactorily.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is divided into a clear introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs, providing a logical framework for the information. However, cohesive devices are often mechanical, faulty, or absent, leading to a somewhat disjointed reading experience. Phrases like 'Followed bye sleeping the little changes saw in figure' and 'In contrast, 1958 the travelling to work consumer' display awkward referencing and transitional phrases. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion within sentences needs significant strengthening to ensure smoother progression.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary range is limited and frequently strained by severe word-choice and word-form errors. Examples include 'working cake', 'others activities', 'dicline', 'yers', and 'consumer' instead of 'consumed'. The student attempts less common vocabulary like 'dramatically increased', 'significantly decline', and 'proportion', but the inaccurate control over collocations and grammatical forms (such as using nouns for verbs or adjectives incorrectly) hinders precise communication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response contains a mixture of simple and attempted complex structures, but grammatical accuracy is very weak. There are frequent errors in tense usage, prepositions, articles, and word order throughout the text (e.g., 'The both pie chart illustrates', 'the proportions of the day spend', 'the little changes saw in figure', and 'Relaxing at home road marginally grow'). Simple sentences tend to be more reliable, while attempts at more complex formations introduce persistent non-systematic errors that occasionally impede understanding.

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

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