Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-14

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)

These pie charts show how adults spend their time doing various activities in a particular countries, about 50 years apart.

Overall, in these pie charts the activities which are given are; going out with family/friends, working, relaxing at home, sleeping and travelling to work. These are the activities which a adult do in a day.

In 1958, average adults spends their most of the time in a day doing work. Following it, sleeping came at second place consuming 32% time of a individual in a day. While spending time with family and friends are at third.However, relaxing at home consume 8% of their daily time. While, travelling to work consume less time then all other activities.

In 2008, working takes a little bit more time than 50 years before. While sleeping is also at the second this time but, less then before. However, relaxing at home came at third with around 13% of daily time. And, travelling to work time increases , while giving time to family and friends decreases. And, adults starts giving more time to sports.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify several relevant comparisons, including that work takes a larger share in 2008, sleeping takes a smaller share, and time spent with friends and family declines. However, the overview is not sufficiently clear: it mainly lists the activities rather than summarising the biggest changes. Some key details are also imprecise or missing. For example, work rises from 33% to 42%, not merely “a little bit,” and travelling increases from 2% to 7%; the figures for these changes would make the comparison clearer. You also omit the 7% share for sports in 2008 and do not give the 19% and 6% figures for socialising. Focus the overview on the main shifts, then support it with accurate figures.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview paragraph, and separate paragraphs for 1958 and 2008. This makes the two years easy to follow, and linking expressions such as “However” and “While” show an attempt to connect comparisons. At times, though, these links are repetitive or awkwardly placed, as in “While sleeping is also at the second this time but” and “And, travelling to work time increases.” The overview also repeats the activity list rather than guiding the reader through the main trends. Use clearer topic sentences and group related changes—for example, increases in work and commuting together, then decreases in sleep and socialising—to create smoother progression.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic vocabulary to communicate the general subject, including “working,” “sleeping,” “relaxing at home,” and “travelling to work.” There are also attempts to describe proportions and comparisons, such as “consuming 32%” and “decreases.” However, several phrases are imprecise or unnatural for chart reporting: “spends their most of the time,” “came at second place,” and “giving time to family and friends.” Repetition of “time” and “activities” also limits the range. Choose standard collocations such as “accounted for,” “the second-largest share,” and “spent time socialising,” and use exact percentage language where possible. This would make the description more precise and natural.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons introduced by “While” and “However,” but control is uneven. Errors in agreement and verb forms appear in phrases such as “a adult do,” “average adults spends,” “relaxing at home consume,” and “adults starts.” Articles and sentence boundaries also need attention: “a individual” is incorrect, and “third.However” lacks a space after the full stop. Some clauses are joined awkwardly, as in “While sleeping is also at the second this time but, less then before.” Practise accurate subject–verb agreement and build comparisons as complete sentences. More consistent control of these basic patterns would make your meaning easier to follow.

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

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