Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-05

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 show us how working adults in a particular country spent their time in 1958 as compared to 2008. There are a lot of differences in the two charts. The major one being that going out with family and friends showed a significant drop from 19% to just 6%. This could be due various changes and advancements in technology. The excess use of smartphones made it easier for friends and family to communicate without feeling a need to go out. We can also see that travelling to work was only 25% of someone's day back in 1958 but in 2008 it took around 7%. This can be due to the fact that taxis and buses became more common and people chose to work jobs that convenience them even if they were a bit more further than they would have hoped for. Moreover, Working and Sleeping have had the opposite effects in these comparisons. Sleeping has decreased with time while working has increased. A major reason for that can be overtime work. But one might think this leaves them less time to themselves but that statement may be incorrect since the chart shows that there is a 5% increase in relaxing at home from 1958 to 2008. This can also point towards the assumption that people tend to spend more time relaxing which minimizes their sleep time. Playing sports has been consistent throughout but with a slight increase mainly due to the health risks in the modern world

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the main features of the two pie charts, noting shifts in categories such as working, sleeping, and going out with friends or family. However, the candidate misreads and misreports several figures from the visual data. For instance, the text claims that travelling to work was '25% of someone's day back in 1958' and '7%' in 2008, whereas the chart shows 2% for 1958 and 7% for 2008. Additionally, the response introduces external speculation and generalisations not present in the charts, such as discussing smartphones, taxis, buses, and health risks in the modern world. While some ideas are relevant, they are under-developed or skewed by these inaccurate data citations, keeping the response at this level.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

The essay lacks proper paragraphing, as the entire response is presented as a single block of text rather than distinct paragraphs for an introduction, overview, and body details. This absence of clear visual chunking hinders the overall progression and makes the logical flow mechanical. While basic cohesive devices and transition signals like 'Moreover' and 'This can also point towards' are attempted, the referencing is sometimes unclear, and the lack of a structured layout limits the coherence of the ideas presented throughout the text.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate for the task, successfully attempting less common phrases such as 'significant drop', 'opposite effects', and 'consistent throughout'. However, there are notable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices, such as writing 'more further' instead of 'further' and using 'convenience them' as a verb. Spelling is largely accurate and communication is not impeded by these word-choice errors, which places the lexical performance comfortably within this band.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, including conditional and relative clauses. There are, however, frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding prepositions, verb patterns, and articles (e.g., 'due various changes', 'jobs that convenience them', and 'a bit more further'). Punctuation is also occasionally inconsistent. These errors in grammar and punctuation can cause some minor difficulty for the reader, reflecting a standard of control where complex sentences are frequently faulty.

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