Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-28

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 presented pie charts depict the time utilization of youth who are involved in employment in a country in two various years 1958 and 2008.

Overall, it can be observed the highest amount of time was devoted to working in both the years ,while in 1958 the least prefrence was travelling to work following going out with family in 2008

To begin with, it can be witnessed that by 1958 the most favorable thing was work with the proportion of 33%. However it jumped to 42% in 2008. Sleeping was the second highest activity amongst the youngsters in 1958 having percentage of 32. In addition to this, 8% was spent on sleeping in 1958 but this ratio increased in 2008 and reached to 13%

Secondly, only 2% of the time was allocated to travelling to work in 1958. However it's figure soared to 7% in the comming years . Furthermore, people chosed to utilized 19% in going out with friends or family in 1958. While it faced substancial drop in 2008 as it slipped back to 6%. Apart from that, playing sports was less common in 1958 but it experienced slight growth in 2008 with the pertile of 7.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by reporting the main features of the pie charts for 1958 and 2008 and making relevant comparisons. An overview is present, highlighting that working accounted for the highest proportion in both years. However, there are some minor data misreadings and confusions in the body paragraphs. For instance, the student states, "8% was spent on sleeping in 1958 but this ratio increased in 2008 and reached to 13%," whereas the 8% figure in 1958 actually referred to relaxing at home, and sleeping was 32%. Similarly, playing sports is mentioned as having a "pertile of 7" in 2008, but the comparison of how it was absent or merged in 1958 could be clearer. Despite these inaccuracies, the overall trends are adequately covered, placing this response at Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response is organized into clear paragraphs, starting with an introduction, moving to an overview, and splitting the detailed data into logical body paragraphs. Cohesive devices are utilized to guide the reader through the data, such as "To begin with," "However," "Secondly," and "Apart from that." However, referencing is occasionally faulty, leading to confusion between data points (e.g., mixing up sleeping and relaxing at home statistics). Paragraphing is used appropriately, but the mechanical and sometimes inaccurate use of cohesive links prevents the response from reaching a higher band. Overall, the arrangement is coherent, earning a Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as "time utilization," "proportion," and "substancial drop." However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors throughout the text, including "prefrence" instead of preference, "favorable" instead of prominent, "comming" instead of coming, "chosed" instead of chose, "utilized" instead of utilize, and "pertile" instead of percentage. Furthermore, spelling mistakes like "substancial" detract from precision. These errors do not impede overall communication but restrict the lexical score to Band 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, such as "While it faced substancial drop in 2008 as it slipped back to 6%." However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are several structural and precessional errors, including tense and preposition slips ("in both the years ,while in 1958 the least prefrence was travelling to work following going out with family in 2008", "it's figure soared", and "people chosed to utilized"). Punctuation and comma splices also occur frequently (e.g., missing commas before conjunctions and stray spaces before punctuation marks). Because errors are frequent enough to cause occasional hesitation for the reader, a Band 5.5 is appropriate.

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

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