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 how working adults in a particular country spent their time in 1958 and 2008, in specific country.

Overall, it is evident that in both years, working adults allocated most of their time working, followed by sleeping. 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, which 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 saw a significant jump to 42%, whereas sleeping fell from 32% to 25%. Both the categories together comprised more than half of the day. The time spent on relaxing at home rose to 13%, whereas time allocated for leisure and outdoor socialising made up smallest figure, at 6% only. Finally, 7% share of the day was constituted for both the playing sports and commuting to work.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.5

The response successfully addresses all parts of the prompt by selecting and reporting the main features of the two pie charts. It presents a clear overview stating that working and sleeping dominated both years, and successfully identifies key trends such as the increase in working hours and the shift in leisure activities. However, the response sits at this level because some features are slightly under-developed or contain minor inaccuracies; for example, the text states that 'leisure and outdoor socialising made up smallest figure, at 6% only' in 2008, whereas going out with friends/family was 6% while playing sports was 7%, making them joint lowest or slightly misattributed. Additionally, the phrase 'in specific country' in the introduction is repetitive and vague. To reach a higher level, the response would need to extend comparisons more consistently and avoid slight data grouping errors.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The essay demonstrates a clear overall progression and logical arrangement of information. The structure is well-organized into a clear introduction, a concise overview paragraph, and two distinct body paragraphs dedicated to each specific year. Cohesive devices such as 'Meanwhile', 'Similarly', and 'whereas' are used to connect ideas, though referencing is occasionally mechanical. For instance, 'Both the categories together comprised more than half of the day' links back effectively to working and sleeping, but the transition between sentences can feel slightly rigid at times. Paragraphing is used appropriately throughout the response. To achieve a higher band, the writer needs to employ a wider and more flexible range of cohesive devices and ensure that referencing is consistently smooth and natural.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common lexical items such as 'allocated', 'constituted', and 'significant jump'. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice, collocation, and phrasing. For example, the phrase 'spent of their time on going out' contains awkward prepositional usage, and the expression 'had a smallest figure' requires a superlative article ('the smallest figure'). There is also a minor vocabulary error in the opening sentence ('in specific country'). These errors do not impede communication, but they prevent the response from achieving a higher score. To improve, the writer should focus on precise collocations and more natural phrasing when describing statistical changes.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating control over basic structures and attempting complex sentences such as 'It was closely followed by sleeping, which constituted 32% of the total time.' There are some errors in grammar, notably subject-verb agreement and article usage, such as 'The least amount of time were spent' (should be 'was spent') and 'both the playing sports' (where 'the' is unnecessary). Punctuation is generally handled well, and the errors present do not impede communication. To reach a higher band, the writer must produce a greater proportion of error-free sentences when utilizing complex grammatical structures and eliminate basic agreement slips.

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

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