Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-24
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 given pie charts illustrates the comparision on how country's professional people can spent their time in two different years 1958 and 2008.
Overall, adults spent most of their time on working in both years followed by sleeping. Going out with friends was most liked by people in 1958 contrast with relaxing at home which take great attention of 2008 population.
Adults in 1958 spent 33% of time in working, 32% in sleeping and 19% for going out with family and friends. Whereas citizens of year 2008 give 42% of their day to working, 25% to sleeping and 13% relaxing at home.
In 1958, peolpe spent least of their time on relaxing at home, playing sports and travelling to work which was 8%, 5% and 2% respectively. Moreover, playing sports and travelling to work both takes 7% of time of population of 2008, 6% spent on going out with friends by same year of population.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The student successfully addresses all parts of the task by selecting, reporting, and comparing the main features of the two pie charts. An overview is provided, noting that working and sleeping dominated both years, while shifts occurred in social and relaxation habits. Key data points are accurately cited, such as working increasing from 33% to 42% and sleeping decreasing from 32% to 25%. However, there is a minor contradiction and inaccuracy in the final paragraph regarding the 1958 data for playing sports (stating 5% when the transcription shows it was not present or tracked separately in 1958, though this is a minor detail). Overall, the response covers the core trends well and satisfies the requirements of Band 6.5 to 7.0, ultimately fitting comfortably into Band 6.0 due to some minor inaccuracies in data reporting.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response is arranged coherently with a clear overall progression from an introduction to an overview, followed by specific body paragraphs comparing the two years. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different categories of data. Cohesive devices such as 'Whereas', 'Moreover', and 'In 1958' are employed to connect ideas, although some referencing is slightly mechanical (e.g., 'by same year of population'). There are occasional awkward transitions, but the logical structure remains clear throughout, allowing the reader to follow the comparisons easily. This performance aligns well with the Band 6 descriptor.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'professional people', 'citizens', and 'population'. However, there are noticeable word choice and collocation errors, such as 'comparision on how' instead of 'comparison of how', 'can spent' instead of 'spent', and 'take great attention' instead of 'attracted the most attention'. Spelling is generally acceptable, but grammatical slips in word formation slightly restrict precision. The lexical vocabulary is sufficient to convey the intended meaning, matching Band 6 criteria.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and introductory prepositional phrases ('In 1958, people spent...'). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding tense consistency and verb forms (e.g., 'illustrates the comparision', 'can spent', 'which take great attention', 'both takes', '6% spent on... by same year of population'). While these errors do not severely impede communication, they persist throughout the text and prevent the response from achieving a higher band. The control of grammar is characteristic of Band 5.5 to 6.0.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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