Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-09

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 given pie chart show the percentage of how adults of one nation spent their time in a day by doing different activities in 1958 and 2008.

Overall, it can be clearly seen that in both 1958 and 2008 adults spent their most of time by working and less time spent in travelling to work.

In 1958, 32% adults sleep during the day. Percentage of adults who spent their time in working was 33 in 1958. Moreover, Going out with friends/family consumed 19% of their time. 2%and 8% of adults time was spent in travelling to work and relaxing at home.

Additionally, in 2008 same percentage of time was spent in tracelling to work and playing sports which was 7%. Along with that, 6% adults spent their time by going out with family or friends. Working people utilized 42% of their time for working and 25% for sleeping. 13% adults spent time in relaxing at home in 2008.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You report most of the chart figures accurately, including the rise in working time from 33% to 42%, the fall in sleeping from 32% to 25%, and the 2008 figures for sports and travel. However, the overview is incomplete and partly inaccurate: travel was the smallest category in 1958, but in 2008 both travel and sports were 7%, while going out was lowest at 6%. Also, working was the largest category in both years, but the statement that adults spent the least time travelling does not hold for 2008. The response mainly lists figures rather than highlighting the key changes between years, and it omits the important emergence of sports in 2008. A clearer overview and more selective comparisons would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction and overview are followed by separate paragraphs for 1958 and 2008. This makes the information easy to locate, and connectors such as “Moreover” and “Additionally” help signal additions. However, the progression is mostly a sequence of figures rather than a comparison across the two years, so the relationship between changes is not always made explicit. Some linking phrases feel mechanical, and “Along with that” does not clearly show how the next point relates to the previous one. Grouping the main increases and decreases together, and using clearer references such as “by contrast” or “whereas,” would create stronger cohesion and a more analytical flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing the chart, including “percentage,” “consumed,” and “utilized,” and the activity categories are generally identifiable. However, several choices are awkward or imprecise, such as “spent their time by working,” “adults sleep during the day,” and “Working people utilized 42% of their time for working.” These phrases make the description less natural and sometimes obscure whether you mean a share of the day or a share of adults. There are also spelling errors, including “tracelling,” and inconsistent capitalization of “Going.” Aim for accurate chart-reporting collocations such as “accounted for,” “spent time working,” and “the proportion of the day devoted to.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and longer sentences, and the main figures can generally be understood. However, errors in agreement, articles, and sentence construction are noticeable. For example, “The given pie chart show” needs a singular verb, while “adults spent their most of time” has an incorrect possessive structure. In “32% adults sleep during the day,” an article or “of” is needed, and the past-tense reporting should be consistent. The fragment-like construction “2%and 8% of adults time was spent” also needs clearer punctuation and agreement. Practise forming accurate comparative sentences and use past-tense reporting consistently; this will improve control without requiring more complicated structures.

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

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