Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-17

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 below two pie charts depict how employed adults spend their crucial leisure time involve into numerous activities in year 1958 and 2008.

From the 1958, the pie chart comprised of various activities and it clearly indicates that majority of leisure time spent by adults was accounted for working approximately 33%. While sleeping ranked second, followed by working category which shows their true priorities. After that, the least minimum priority set by adults was travelling to work. Moreover, we observe that adults had spent approximately 19% of their time in hanging out with family and friends. And at last, relaxing at home comprised of 8% most probably during weekends.

From the 2008, we can see a dramatically increase in working time as most people seem to be more indulged in employment while sacrificed their sleeping which was slightly reduced from 32% to 25%. Furthermore, relaxing at home became much common way to spent leisure time which surged about 5% as compare to 1958. At last, activities such as travelling, hanging out, playing sports appeared to be plunged as adults are appointed by tons of responsibilities.

To sum up, from previous year working category became a top notch priority for adults while other curricular social activities contributed least.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify several relevant changes, including the rise in working time and the fall in sleeping and socialising, but the account only partially reports the charts and the overview is not consistently clear. In 1958, working was the largest category at 33%, narrowly ahead of sleeping at 32%; your claim that sleeping ranked second “followed by working” reverses their order. You also describe travelling, socialising and sports in 2008 as having “plunged,” although travelling rose from 2% to 7% and sports appeared at 7%; only going out fell substantially, from 19% to 6%. The final summary that social activities contributed least is too broad. Report the main figures accurately and distinguish increases from decreases.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, separate paragraphs for the two years, and a concluding summary. This gives the reader an overall route through the information. However, progression within the paragraphs is sometimes weakened by unclear or mechanical links, such as “After that,” “And at last,” and “At last,” which do not always signal a meaningful ranking. The 1958 paragraph also says working was the largest category, then says sleeping ranked second “followed by working,” making the comparison difficult to follow. Grouping the largest categories and then the smaller changes, with clear comparisons between years, would make the organisation more coherent and the referencing more precise.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You attempt a varied vocabulary, including “dramatically,” “surged,” “priorities,” and “responsibilities,” and the general topic remains understandable. However, several choices are inaccurate or overly informal for a chart summary: “crucial leisure time,” “top notch priority,” “hanging out,” and “plunged” do not describe the data precisely. Some phrases also sound unnatural, such as “least minimum priority” and “adults are appointed by tons of responsibilities.” These choices sometimes obscure the intended comparison, especially when describing categories that increased. Prefer neutral, precise terms for proportions and trends, and use the chart labels rather than interpreting adults’ motives.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

There are attempts at complex sentences, for example “From the 2008, we can see a dramatically increase in working time as most people seem to be more indulged in employment while sacrificed their sleeping.” However, sentence structures are often faulty, and errors can make relationships between ideas difficult to understand. Examples include “the pie chart comprised of,” “majority of leisure time spent,” and “while sacrificed their sleeping,” where the verb forms or sentence construction are incomplete or incorrect. Articles and prepositions are also inconsistent, as in “From the 1958” and “as compare to 1958.” Build sentences around a clear subject and finite verb, and check verb forms and article use; for instance, “Working rose, while the proportion for sleeping fell.”

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

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