Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-12

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 illustrates the proportion of a day spend by working adults in a particular country spent their time in 1958 and 2008.

Overall, working accounted the most spent time in both years 1958 and 2008 by adults, while, sleeping recorded the second most spend time over the years. Whereas, in 1950, most of the adults are taking rest at home and in 2008, going out with friends/family are in lowest time spend.

In 1958, the adults invest more time on working at 33% and in 2008 it was rose slightly to 42% of time, while some adults are recorded sleeping at 32% of time but it was decreased slightly in 2008 to 25%. The adults are going out with friends/ family experienced at 19% of time but in 2008 it had decline significantly to 6% of period, whereas, relaxing at home noted 8% of duration in a day but in 2008 it Marginally increased to 13%.

In 1958, people used to spend low time in a day to travelling to work at 2% but in 2008, it slightly rosed to 7% of time. In contrast, there is an extra activity adults are shhowing intrested in spending time on playing sports is recorded at 7% of adults in a day.

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AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main pattern that working took the largest share in both years, and you report several relevant comparisons accurately: work rose from 33% to 42%, sleep fell from 32% to 25%, and socialising dropped from 19% to 6%. You also include the new sports category in 2008. However, the overview contains a factual error: it says that in 1950 most adults were resting at home, although the chart is for 1958 and relaxing at home was only 8%. The claim that sleeping was the second-largest activity in both years is also inaccurate for 2008, when it was below working but above the other listed activities; clarify this ranking and avoid the confusing phrase “most spent time.” Some details, particularly the 2008 distribution, could be presented more clearly and fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs of details. Grouping the comparisons by activities gives the reader a basic route through the data. However, progression is weakened by unclear or inaccurate links, such as “Whereas” beginning a sentence after the overview and “In contrast” introducing sports without a clear contrast. Several sentences combine multiple figures and comparisons, making relationships harder to follow. The final paragraph also ends abruptly with “I,” which disrupts the conclusion of the response. Use clearer topic sentences, connect each comparison directly to its relevant year, and ensure the final sentence is complete.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use a reasonable range of task-related vocabulary, including “accounted,” “decreased,” “decline,” and “marginally increased,” and the reader can generally understand the comparisons. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, including “most spent time,” “invest more time on working,” and “lowest time spend.” There are also spelling and word-form problems, such as “shhowing intrested,” which reduce precision. Aim for standard chart language and use the same terms consistently: for example, describe the percentage of the day “spent working” or “devoted to” an activity. More accurate collocations would make your descriptions clearer and more natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including comparisons joined with “while” and “whereas,” and the main figures are usually understandable. However, errors in agreement, verb forms, articles, and sentence construction occur across the response. For example, “The pie charts illustrates” should use a plural verb, while “it was rose” and “it slightly rosed” have incorrect verb forms. The opening sentence also has a confusing structure: “the proportion of a day spend … spent their time.” Some long sentences join clauses awkwardly, and punctuation around linking words is not consistently controlled. Practise forming concise comparison sentences with accurate past-tense verbs and subject–verb agreement.

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

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