Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · 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 6.5)

The pie charts compare the time management of working adults in 1958 and 2008, in specific country.

Overall, it is evident that in both years, working adults allocated most of their time on working, followed by sleeping. In contrast, the least amount of time were spent on traveling to work.

In 1958, working represented the largest portion of time, at 33%. It was closely followed by sleeping, constituted 32% of the total time. Employed adults spent 19% of their time on going out with friends/family, while relaxing at home and playing sports contributed 8% and 6% respectively. Meanwhile, travelling to work had a smallest figure, at 2% only.

Similarly, in 2008, working and sleeping together comprised more than half of the overall time, making 42% and 25% respectively. Relaxing at home made up 13%, while playing sports, travelling to work, and going out with friends/family constituted the rest of the time, representing 7%, 7%, and 6% respectively.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by presenting an overview and detailing the data for both 1958 and 2008. The main features are identified, such as working and sleeping taking up the largest shares of time in both years. However, certain parts of the response are slightly under-developed; for instance, the comparison between years could have been integrated more cohesively rather than treating each chart in isolation. There are also minor inaccuracies in data reporting, such as stating that relaxing at home and playing sports contributed '8% and 6% respectively' in 1958 when the chart shows relaxing at home was 8% and playing sports was actually not represented in 1958 (it was 7% in 2008, while going out was 19% in 1958 and 6% in 2008). Despite these minor misreadings, the overall picture of the task is communicated clearly.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a clear overall progression and is divided into logical paragraphs, moving from an introduction to an overview, and then into detailed body paragraphs for each year. Cohesive devices are used reasonably well, such as 'Overall', 'In contrast', and 'Similarly', which guide the reader through the information effectively. The transition between sentences is generally smooth, though referencing could occasionally be tighter to bridge the comparison between the two time periods. The paragraphing structure is appropriate for an academic report, fully meeting the criteria for a solid score while hinting at the clearer logical organisation found at higher bands.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.5

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, successfully conveying numerical data and trends using terms such as 'allocated', 'proportion', 'constituted', and 'comprised'. The writer attempts some less common phrasing, such as 'largest portion of time' and 'comprised more than half', demonstrating a satisfactory range. However, there are a few lexical inaccuracies and awkward phrasing instances, such as missing an article in 'in specific country' and the slightly unnatural phrasing 'had a smallest figure'. These minor slips do not impede communication, allowing the reader to follow the intended meaning without difficulty.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The writing exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, incorporating introductory clauses and subordinate structures successfully. There are some grammatical errors present, such as subject-verb agreement issues (e.g., 'the least amount of time were spent', where 'amount' is singular) and minor prepositional or article slips (e.g., 'constituted 32% of the total time' lacking a participle or relative pronoun). Punctuation and sentence boundaries are generally controlled, and while errors do occur, they rarely impede communication and do not obscure the intended meaning of the report.

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

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