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 pie chart illustrates working adults in a particular country spent their time between 1958 and 2008.

Overall, it is clear that working had the highest number of percent day spent, while traveling to work had the lowest number of percent day spent. In addition, there was a significant difference between the most and least popular in day spent activities.

Looking at the first bie chart, in 1958 the working stood at 33 percent day spent activities. It was followed by sleeping with 32 percent day spent activities. Similarly, going out with friends and family had 19 percent day spent activities which was slightly lower than sleeping.

By the second chart, working had 42 percent of day spent activities in 2008 had increase, while sleeping had 25 percent day spent activities in 2008 had decrease. In going out with friends and family had 6 percent day spent activities but there are decrease in 2008. At the end of the period, working are most popular activities in 1958 and 2008, while traveling to work are most common activities in 1958 and 1900.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response covers the main features of the two pie charts, correctly reporting data for 1958 and 2008 such as working hours (33% to 42%) and sleeping hours (32% to 25%). However, the overview lacks precision and includes awkward phrasing like "highest number of percent day spent". There are also minor factual inaccuracies in the conclusion, such as claiming traveling to work was most common in 1900 instead of 1958, and misinterpreting the popularity rankings. While all parts of the prompt are addressed, the support and summarisation show limitations in precision and data selection, aligning with a Band 5.5 to 6.0 performance.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The essay is divided into paragraphs, starting with an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for each year. However, the progression within sentences is frequently disrupted by mechanical and awkward cohesive devices, such as "By the second chart" instead of "In contrast, for the second chart". Paragraphing is attempted, but referencing and logical flow are sometimes unclear, as seen in the convoluted concluding sentences. Cohesion is faulty in places, leading to a disjointed reading experience. This corresponds to a Band 5.0.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is very repetitive and basic, relying heavily on clumsy phrasing such as "percent day spent activities". There are noticeable lexical errors, such as "bie chart" (pie chart) and awkward word choices like "had increase" instead of "increased". While the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey basic data points from the charts, the lack of flexibility and frequent word-formation errors restrict the score to a Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, but grammatical accuracy is quite low. There are frequent errors in tense usage, verb forms, and sentence structure, such as "the working stood at" (missing noun) and clauses like "while sleeping had 25 percent day spent activities in 2008 had decrease". Punctuation is basic, and awkward phrasing frequently impedes clear communication. This performance aligns with Band 5.0 descriptors due to the persistence of basic grammatical errors.

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

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