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 pie chart illustrates the proportion of how an individual employee in a country spent their time on various activities between 1958 and 2008.
Overall, working was the dominant activity in both years, sleeping was the second highest activity even though there was a slight decrease in 2008 . Travelling to work was least activity in 1958 which further increased in 2008, where playing activity and travelling to work remained same. Going out with family and friends in 1958 was popular, however in 2008 it became the least activity.
In 1958, working was the dominant activity representing 33% of the total proportion and in 2008 it rose with 42% of the total. Sleeping was the second highest activity in both years at 32% in 1958 and 25% in 2008. Furtheremore, relaxing at home accounted with 85 in 1958 and grew with 13% of the total proportion followed by going out with friends comprised with 19% in 1958 which later dropped 6% of the total in 2008. Moreover, playing sports was the second least activity followed by travelling to work with 2% in 1958, however they remained the same in 2008 with 7% each of the total proportion.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0
The response successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting the main features of both pie charts and making relevant comparisons between 1958 and 2008. The overview correctly identifies that working was the dominant activity in both years and highlights major shifts. However, there are a few minor data inaccuracies in the body paragraphs, such as the statement that relaxing at home accounted for "85" (presumably a typo for 8%) and stating that playing sports and travelling to work "remained the same in 2008 with 7% each" when travelling to work was 2% in 1958 and 7% in 2008, while playing sports was a new category. Despite these minor lapses, the key trends and data points are generally well selected and presented.
Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5
The report features a clear logical organisation with a defined introduction, an overview paragraph, and detailed body paragraphs. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different aspects of the visual data. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as "Overall", "In 1958", and "however", although some transitions are slightly mechanical or awkward, as seen in sentences like "Furtheremore, relaxing at home accounted with 85 in 1958 and grew with 13% of the total proportion." Referencing is generally clear, but occasional clunky phrasing interrupts the overall flow and progression of ideas.
Lexical Resource — Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary suitable for a Task 1 response, successfully employing terms like "proportion", "dominant activity", "accounted for", and "dropped". There are, however, several lexical errors and awkward collocations throughout the text, including "accounted with 85" instead of "accounted for 8%", "grew with 13%" instead of "rose to 13%", and "playing activity" instead of "playing sports". Despite these inaccuracies and occasional typos, the vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning without severely impeding communication.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, incorporating subordinate clauses and comparative structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and prepositional inaccuracies, such as "rose with 42%" (instead of "rose to 42%"), "dropped 6%" (instead of "dropped to 6%"), and punctuation errors such as a stray space before a full stop in "2008 .". While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the text from achieving a higher band score due to the lack of error-free complex sentences.
See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.
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