Band 4.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.0 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-20

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 4.0)

The pie chart provides information about the porpotion of the activites done by working adults in a country in the year 1958 and 2008.

Overall, it is clear that in both years they spent majority of their time at work. Sleeping was at the second position

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.0

The response identifies the chart’s subject and years, and it attempts an overview by saying adults spent most of their time at work. However, it does not summarise the main features sufficiently: there are no figures, no comparisons between 1958 and 2008, and no mention of important changes such as working rising from 33% to 42% or sleeping falling from 32% to 25%. The statement that sleeping was in second place is not accurate for 2008, when it was below working and relaxing at home. The response is also substantially below the required 150 words, leaving the task largely incomplete. To improve, report the main categories and their changes, supported by accurate percentages.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response: an introductory sentence is followed by a separate overview beginning with “Overall”. This gives the reader a simple starting structure. However, the response ends after the overview, so there is no developed sequence of comparisons or supporting details. The final statement, “Sleeping was at the second position”, is also left without a clear comparison between the two years. Use a fuller structure with an introduction, an overview, and one or two paragraphs grouping the key changes. Linking phrases such as “By contrast” or “Meanwhile” could help show how the figures relate, rather than leaving the reader to infer the comparisons.

Lexical Resource: Band 4.5

The response uses a small number of relevant terms, including “pie chart”, “working adults”, “majority” and “sleeping”, so the topic is generally recognisable. However, the vocabulary range is very limited because only a few categories and no changes are described. There are also spelling errors in “porpotion” and “activites”, and “at the second position” is an awkward expression for ranking. Use accurate chart vocabulary and varied verbs to report movement, such as “accounted for”, “increased”, “declined” and “remained”. Naming categories such as travelling to work and going out with friends or family would also make the description more precise and complete.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

The response includes a simple introductory sentence and an overview sentence, and the basic meaning is mostly understandable. However, the grammatical range is narrow, with no developed complex sentence structures. In “they spent majority of their time at work”, the noun phrase needs an article: “the majority of their time”. The sentence “Sleeping was at the second position” is also awkwardly formed; a clearer construction would be “Sleeping ranked second”. The overview ends without punctuation, which makes the response feel unfinished. Practise combining comparisons in accurate sentences, for example, “While the proportion working rose, the share sleeping fell.” This would demonstrate greater structural range while keeping the data clear.

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

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