Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-20

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 charts illustrate the proportion of time spent on activities by working adults through out their day in 1958 and 2008.

Overall, working is the most dominant activity, while sleeping remained the second most time consuming activity of the day in both 1958 and 2008. Relaxing at home and traveling to work also increased their share, but other activities like; spending time with friends and family, sleeping and playing declined over time.

In 1958, people spent almost one third of their time at work and approximately the same amount of time of sleeping. Working adults spent 19% of their time hanging out with their friends and families, and almost 9% of their time is dedicated to playing supports. Relaxing at home got 6% time of their routine. Traveling to work consumed small proportion (2%) of time.

By 2008, the pattern had changed considerably. Large share of the time was taken by working, reaching to 42%. People tended to relax more at home, increasing it from 8% to 13% in half decade. It costed 7% of the time to travel to work. Other activities sleeping, playing, Going out with friends and family declined in proportion of time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by reporting the main features of the two pie charts and making relevant comparisons. An appropriate overview is provided, highlighting that working and sleeping were the two most time-consuming activities in both years, and correctly noting broader trends. However, there are some data inaccuracies and misreadings of the charts. For instance, the student states that adults spent 'almost 9% of their time is dedicated to playing supports' in 1958, whereas the 1958 chart shows no such category (playing sports is only present in 2008 at 7%). Additionally, the student misquotes the 1958 relaxing figure as 6% instead of 8%. Despite these data discrepancies, the overall response covers the key comparisons and general trends adequately, placing it firmly in the band 6 range.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response has a clear overall progression and is divided into appropriate paragraphs, starting with an introduction and overview, followed by body paragraphs detailing each year. Cohesive devices are used to guide the reader, such as 'In 1958', 'By 2008', and 'Overall'. However, referencing and cohesion are sometimes faulty or mechanical. For example, the transitional links between sentences can be abrupt, and punctuation errors like semicolons used incorrectly ('activities like; spending time') disrupt the flow. Paragraphing is present and logically structured, but paragraph internal cohesion could be smoother. Overall, the organization is coherent enough to satisfy the requirements for a band 6.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully employing terms such as 'proportion', 'dominant', 'consume', and 'considerable'. There are, however, several lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices throughout the text. For example, the student writes 'through out' (two words), refers to 'playing supports' instead of 'sports', and misuses 'half decade' (fifty years is half a century, not a decade). Words such as 'costed' instead of 'cost' also indicate minor word-formation issues. While the range is sufficient to convey the main message, these recurring errors and imprecise collocations keep the lexical score at a band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures like 'The pie charts illustrate...' and 'By 2008, the pattern had changed considerably.' There are several grammatical errors and punctuation lapses that occasionally cause slight confusion, such as 'almost the same amount of time of sleeping' instead of 'for sleeping', and incorrect punctuation with semicolons and commas ('activities like; spending time with friends and family, sleeping...'). Tense consistency is generally maintained when discussing the past years, but minor slips occur. The variety of structures is acceptable for the band, and errors do not severely impede overall communication, supporting a band 6 score.

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

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