Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · 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 5.0)

The pie charts shows how practical adults spent their time on various activities between 1958 and 2008.

Overall, adults gave their time on maximum time on sleeping and working in 1958 and 2008, whereas travelling to work, relaxing at home got the least prioritize activiting among them. Going out with friends became the second most considered activity in adults 1958.

Relaxing increased among adults, with 13% for 2008. In contrast, it was 8% in 1958. Going out with friends, travelling to work and playing sports were the least favored activities, with 6% and 7% in 2008.

Working activity had experienced a noticeable increase in 2008, from 33% to 42%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5

You identify several relevant features, including the rise in working time from 33% to 42%, the increase in relaxing at home from 8% to 13%, and the decline in going out with friends. However, the overview is unclear and partly inaccurate: sleeping was not among the two largest activities in 2008, when working was highest and sleeping accounted for 25%. The claim that travelling and relaxing were the least-prioritised activities also overlooks the 6% figure for going out in 2008 and the 2% travel figure in 1958. Playing sports is mentioned without a comparison, and sleeping’s change is not reported. The response is 109 words, below the required 150, leaving key comparisons underdeveloped. Include a fuller overview and accurately compare the main categories.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing selected details. This gives the reader some sense of organisation, and contrast markers such as “Overall” and “In contrast” help signal relationships. However, progression is limited because the overview makes broad claims that are not clearly supported by the details that follow. The sentence about going out, travelling and sports groups unlike categories and gives only two percentages, so the comparison is difficult to follow. Some information is also left isolated, such as the mention of sports without explaining its absence from the 1958 chart. Organise the body around clear comparisons between years, and use linking phrases to show each category’s direction of change.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use some task-relevant vocabulary, including “noticeable increase,” “Relaxing,” and “favored,” and the reader can generally understand the activities being compared. There is also an attempt to vary wording rather than repeat “spent time.” However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “practical adults,” “gave their time on maximum time,” “least prioritize activiting,” and “second most considered activity.” These expressions make the overview harder to interpret and show limited control of vocabulary for describing proportions and rankings. Use standard chart language such as “working adults,” “spent the largest share of their time,” and “least popular activity.” Check word forms and spelling, including “activities,” and prefer precise terms such as “proportion” or “percentage” when reporting figures.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt a few different sentence patterns, including a contrast sentence beginning “In contrast” and a comparative statement about working time. However, grammatical errors occur frequently and sometimes make relationships unclear. The opening has subject–verb disagreement in “The pie charts shows,” while “adults gave their time on maximum time” has an incomplete and faulty structure. In the overview, “adults 1958” lacks a necessary preposition, and “travelling to work, relaxing at home got” does not form a clear grammatical comparison. The final sentence uses “had experienced” awkwardly with a specific past-time comparison. Use simple, controlled structures first: “The charts show…” and “The proportion of time spent working rose from 33% to 42%.” Then check agreement, articles, prepositions and tense consistency.

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

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