Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-29
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 compare the daily routine activities of employeed people in a particular country between 1958 and 2008.
Overall, working individuals spent their most of the time working in both time zones. Sleep time reduced in 2008 while, relaxing at home propotion and travelling time to work had been increased comparatively. In 1958 people spent more time with friends and family as compare to 2008. Sports proportion remained largelt unchanged.
In 1958, people spent relatively similar time at work and sleeping by 33% and 32%. In contrast, working time increased by 42% amoung adults in 2008 and sleep time declined 7% and in 2008 sleep time acocunted for 25%. Meanwhile, going out with family and friends contained a significant number of 19% in 1958, that reduced in 2008 and remained only 6%.
People spent 8% of their time at home relaxing in 1958 whereas relaxing time increased marginaly by 13% in 2008. However, travel time to work was accounted for the least proportion of 2% in 1958 that experienced a sharp increase of 7% in other year. Playing sports represented that same percentage in both years which is 7%.
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 student successfully covers all parts of the task by reporting on the main features of the pie charts for both 1958 and 2008. An overview is present in the second paragraph, identifying key trends such as working hours increasing and sleeping hours decreasing. The student makes relevant comparisons between the two years, citing specific figures like 33% for working in 1958 and 42% in 2008. However, there are minor inaccuracies in data reporting; for example, the student states 'sleep time declined 7% and in 2008 sleep time acocunted for 25%', whereas the drop was actually from 32% to 25% (a 7 percentage point drop, but mathematically a decline of over 20%). Despite minor lapses in precision, the core information is presented well.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The response has a clear overall progression and is divided into logical paragraphs, starting with an introduction and overview, followed by body paragraphs detailing specific categories. Cohesive devices are used, such as 'In contrast', 'Meanwhile', and 'However', though some transitions feel slightly mechanical or are grammatically awkward (e.g., 'in other year'). Referencing is mostly clear, but the flow is occasionally disrupted by awkward phrasing and punctuation issues. Paragraphing is used sufficiently to structure the comparison between the two years.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting less common items such as 'proportion', 'significant number', and 'sharp increase'. However, there are several spelling and word-choice errors, such as 'employeed' instead of 'employed', 'propotion' instead of 'proportion', 'largelt' instead of 'largely', and 'amoung' instead of 'among'. Phrases like 'contained a significant number of 19%' are unnatural collocations. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the lexical score from reaching higher bands.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, such as 'While working individuals spent their most of the time working...' and 'People spent 8% of their time at home relaxing in 1958 whereas relaxing time increased marginaly...'. However, grammatical errors are frequent throughout the text, including tense inconsistencies and passive voice issues (e.g., 'travel time to work was accounted for the least proportion' and 'travelling time to work had been increased comparatively'). Punctuation and article usage also show frequent lapses, though the meaning generally remains clear.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.