Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-02

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 6.0)

The pie chart compares how working adults in a particular country spent their time in 1958 and 2008.

Overall, in both the years most working adults have mostly spent their time while working. However, the most significant drop was seen in going out with friends and family.

The working time was at 32% in 1958, it rose to 42% in 2008. In contrast spent time on sleeping was 32% in 1958, it fell to 25% in 2008 and held the position of being second. Meanwhile, relaxing at home was just 8% in 1958 and it slightly increase to 13%, making it the third most activity performed that a working adult spent their time on.

Travelling to work in 1958 held the smallest portion of just 2%, while it grew to 7% in 2008, being level with playing sports. Going out with friends/family was third most popular activity in 1958, it drastically dropped to being least popular activity to perform by working adult in 2008. Meanwhile, playing sports increased by only 1% by 2008, making it 7%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

The response addresses all parts of the task by selecting and reporting the main features of the pie charts from 1958 and 2008, and it makes relevant comparisons between the two years. For example, the student correctly highlights that working hours increased from 33% to 42% and notes the significant drop in going out with friends and family. However, some parts of the response are under-developed or contain minor inaccuracies in data reading, such as stating that the working time was 32% in 1958 when the chart shows 33%, and misidentifying the exact ranking of certain activities in the body paragraphs. To move to a higher band, the student should ensure all selected data points are precisely transcribed from the visuals and provide fully extended descriptions of the key trends without minor data discrepancies.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear division into paragraphs, including an introduction, an overview, and body paragraphs detailing specific categories. Cohesive devices are used to connect ideas, such as 'Overall', 'In contrast', 'Meanwhile', and 'Travelling to work in 1958'. However, cohesion is sometimes mechanical or faulty, and referencing is not always completely clear. For instance, the transition between sentences in the second body paragraph can feel disjointed due to comma splices and abrupt shifts in data. To achieve a higher band, the student should improve the logical progression between sentences and use a wider variety of cohesive links more naturally, ensuring seamless flow from one idea to the next.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common items and functional phrases such as 'significant drop', 'smallest portion', and 'drastically dropped'. Communication is generally clear despite some errors in word choice, collocation, and word formation, such as writing 'spent time on sleeping' instead of 'time spent sleeping' and 'third most activity performed' instead of 'third most popular activity'. Spelling remains accurate throughout the response. To lift this criterion to the next band, the student needs to incorporate a wider range of sophisticated, less common lexical items with greater precision and avoid awkward phrasing and unnatural collocations.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures like relative clauses and comparative constructions. There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, such as comma splices ('The working time was at 32% in 1958, it rose to 42% in 2008') and awkward prepositional usage ('spent time while working' and 'activity to perform by working adult'). Nevertheless, these errors rarely impede communication. To reach a higher band, the student should increase the frequency of error-free complex sentences and demonstrate better control over punctuation and grammatical structures, particularly when linking independent clauses.

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.