Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-08

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 two pie charts demonstrate how working employees in a specific nation spent their time in 1958 and 2008 on various activities.

Overall, working and sleeping had almost equal percentile of working adults in 1958 whereas travelling to work and playing sports had identical percentile in 2008.

With regards to the data of 1958, 2% of people travelled to work and 8% of employees relaxed at home. Moreover, 19% went out with friends or families. Furthermore, working and sleeping adults had just one percent of difference, additionally, contributing in more than half in 1958.

Moving towards the data of 2008, there were 42% of working employees. people travelling to work and playing sports were equal in percentile. While, people slept in the year 2008 which contributed the quarter of the year. In addition, only 6% went out with friends or relatives. Lastly, just 13 percentile of employees were relaxed at home.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You report several figures accurately, including 2% travelling and 8% relaxing in 1958, and 42% working and 6% going out in 2008. However, the overview does not identify the most important overall changes: work increased, while sleeping and socialising declined; it instead highlights the equality of travel and sport in 2008. The statement that work and sleep were almost equal in 1958 is accurate, but the comparison that they together made up “more than half” is not a sufficiently clear summary of the charts. You also omit the 2008 sleeping figure of 25% and do not clearly report the 7% figures for travel and sport. Select the main trends and compare the two years directly to make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear four-part structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for each year. This makes the information easy to locate, and phrases such as “With regards to the data of 1958” signal a shift in focus. However, progression is sometimes mechanical because many sentences begin with “Moreover,” “Furthermore,” “In addition,” or “Lastly.” Some links are also awkward: “While” begins a fragment-like sentence, and “Moving towards the data of 2008” is wordy. Organise the body around the most meaningful comparisons across years, rather than listing each year’s figures separately, and use fewer, more precise transitions. This would make the relationships between the data clearer.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant activity vocabulary, including “relaxed at home,” “went out with friends or families,” and “travelled to work,” so the reader can generally understand what the categories refer to. There is also some attempt to vary phrasing. However, several choices are inaccurate or unnatural for describing percentages: “percentile” is not the right term, “employees” is repeated, and “contributing in more than half” does not clearly express the combined share. “People slept … which contributed the quarter of the year” is also an imprecise way to report the figure. Use standard chart language such as “accounted for,” “share,” and “percentage,” and choose category labels consistently. More precise collocations would improve clarity without requiring unusually advanced vocabulary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple and more complex forms, including the contrast in “Overall, working and sleeping had almost equal…” and the clause beginning “whereas.” Most of the intended comparisons remain understandable. However, some sentence structures are incomplete or poorly controlled. “While, people slept in the year 2008…” is not a complete, well-linked sentence, and “Furthermore, working and sleeping adults had just one percent of difference, additionally, contributing…” has unclear clause attachment. There are also punctuation and capitalisation problems, such as the lowercase “people” after a full stop. Practise forming complete sentences around each comparison, and check that subordinate clauses are attached to a clear main clause. This will make your range more accurate and easier to follow.

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

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