Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-09-30
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 percentages of the day spent by working adults on various activities in a particular country in 1958 and 2008.
Overall, the working was the most prominent activity in both years, followed closely by sleeping. Activity like working, commuting to work, or relaxing at home increased over a 50- years period. However, going out with friends and family drop dramatically.
In 1958 and 2008, working contributed the highest proportion of 33% and 42%respectively. While in 1958 sleeping contributing 32%, dropping to 25% in 2008. Relaxing at home was one of least favourable task of adults in 1958 standing at 8%, but the value rose to 13% in 2008.
Travelling to work rose from 2% in 1958 to 7% in 2008. In addition, playing sports contributed 6% in 1958 and rose a slight of 7% in 2008. Meanwhile, travelling to work holding the least proportion of just 2% in 1958 but increase to 7% in 2008. In 1958, mostly adults like to going out with friend and family standing at 19% which is dropped to just 6% in 2008.
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 response successfully covers all main features of the two pie charts, providing data for 1958 and 2008 and making relevant comparisons. The overview captures the dominant activity ('working') and notes overall trends, such as increases in work and relaxing alongside a significant drop in going out. However, there are some data inaccuracies and hallucinations in the body paragraphs. For example, the student writes that playing sports contributed 6% in 1958 and rose to 7% in 2008, but the 1958 chart shows no data for sports (it only appears in 2008 at 7%). Furthermore, travelling to work is awkwardly repeated and contradictory in places ('rose a slight of 7%' and 'increase to 7%'). Despite these minor data lapses, all key proportions are reported and compared adequately.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The text is logically arranged with a clear four-paragraph structure comprising an introduction, an overview, and two body paragraphs detailing the specific data. Cohesive devices are employed to link ideas, such as 'Overall', 'However', 'While in 1958', and 'Meanwhile'. However, paragraphing and logical progression are slightly hindered by mechanical or repetitive phrasing, such as repeating the data for travelling to work twice in the final paragraph. Referencing is generally clear, but the lack of precise smooth transitions results in a slightly disjointed reading experience in places.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, with appropriate topic-specific terms such as 'percentages', 'proportion', 'activity', and 'commuting'. The student attempts some less common vocabulary ('prominent', 'favourable'), but these instances are sometimes accompanied by awkward word choice or grammatical collision, such as 'one of least favourable task of adults'. There are also minor lexical slips and infelicities, such as 'mostly adults like to going out'. Spelling is accurate throughout, but lexical control is uneven.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses introduced by 'while' and 'as'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward structures throughout the text. Examples include missing articles ('the working was the most prominent activity'), incorrect verb forms ('drop dramatically', 'contributing 32%', 'like to going out'), and prepositional errors ('over a 50- years period'). Although these errors do not severely impede overall communication, their frequency prevents the writing from achieving a higher band score.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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