Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-01

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 7.0)

The pie charts illustrate the percentage of the day spent by working adults on various activities in 1958 and 2008.

Overall, working accounted for the largest proportion, while travelling to work represented the smallest share. It is also noticeable that relaxing at home and travelling to work had relatively significant increases, whereas sleeping and going out with friends/family accounted for smaller shares over the period.

Looking first at the larger proportions, working accounted for 33% in 1958, making it the largest category. This was followed by sleeping, which represented 32%. Going out with friends/family accounted for 19%, which was lower than the figure for sleeping. Taken together, these categories made up 84% of the overall figure.

Turning to the remaining categories, relaxing at home accounted for 8%, while travelling to work represented 2%. The smallest proportion was recorded for travelling to work, at 2%. Compared with working, this figure was considerably lower, while relaxing at home was approximately four times as large as travelling to work. In 2008, working increased to 42%, sleeping decreased to 25%, relaxing at home increased to 13%, travelling to work increased to 7%, and going out with friends/family decreased to 6%, while playing sports accounted for 7%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt, providing a clear overview and highlighting key features and comparisons between the two years, which meets the requirements for this band level and touches upon higher standards. The student accurately reports the major categories, such as working and sleeping, and notes the introduction of playing sports in 2008. However, there is a minor mechanical error in the body paragraphs where 'travelling to work' is redundantly repeated and described as the smallest share twice in quick succession, detracting slightly from the conciseness of the data selection. To reach a higher standard, the selection and grouping of data could be polished to avoid any repetitive emphasis and to ensure that all significant trends are fully extended with precise contextual synthesis.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay displays a clear overall progression and logical organization. The introduction effectively sets out the purpose of the charts, and the body paragraphs are structured logically, moving from general trends to specific proportions. Cohesive devices such as 'Looking first at', 'Turning to the remaining categories', and 'Compared with working' are used adequately to guide the reader through the data. Nevertheless, cohesion occasionally feels slightly mechanical, particularly in the final paragraph where a list of statistics is strung together in a single long sentence ('working increased to 42%, sleeping decreased to 25%, relaxing at home increased to 13%...'). Better paragraphing and more sophisticated referencing could make the flow smoother and more natural, elevating the organizational control to the next band.

Lexical Resource: Band 7.0

The student demonstrates an adequate to good range of vocabulary appropriate for an academic task, successfully employing terms like 'proportion', 'category', 'considerably lower', and 'approximately four times as large'. There is an attempt to use less common phrasing, which is handled with general success. However, there are minor lapses in precision and expression, such as the redundant repetition of data points in the final sentence and slight awkwardness in collocations. Spelling and word choice remain generally accurate and never impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the descriptions easily. Incorporating a wider variety of synonyms for change and proportion would help push this criterion further.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 7.5

The response benefits from a good variety of sentence structures, mixing simple and complex forms effectively. The student demonstrates good control over complex clauses, such as 'while relaxing at home was approximately four times as large as travelling to work' and concessive or comparative structures. Grammar and punctuation are handled well throughout, with frequent error-free sentences. The minor errors that do occur are sparse and do not impede communication in any way. To maintain this strong grammatical foundation and move towards absolute consistency, the student should continue to monitor complex comparative and listing structures to ensure punctuation remains flawless.

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

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