Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-21

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 6.0)

The pie charts provide the proportions of the way working adults in a specific country spent their time during the time period of 1958 and 2008. In 1958, majority of the days of those individuals were spent working and sleeping. In 2008, the working percentages increased and the sleep proportion decreased. Also the amount of time people spent with their friends and family decreased.

In 1958, the employed people spent more than half of their days doing work and sleep with 33% spent in work and 32% spent in sleep. The proportions were almost the same for both activities. For the rest of the days, they would prefer to hang out with their family and friends. Only 8% of the days were spent in relaxing at home and 6% in playing sports.

However, the trend changed in 2008, people started giving more days to work as it rose from 33% to 42%. They also decreased their sleeping time by 7% lowering it to 25%. With increase in work proportion, other proportions also rose. For instance, relaxing at home and travelling to work increased as 13% and 7% respectively.

As compared to 1958, in 2008 the family time of those people decreased lowering down to only 6%. Overall, people started to give more time to work, travelling to work and relaxing at home.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the main shifts accurately: working rises from 33% to 42%, sleeping falls from 32% to 25%, and time with friends and family drops to 6%. The overview also notes increases in commuting and relaxing at home. However, some details are misreported: in 1958, 19%—not 6%—was spent with friends and family, while playing sports is shown only for 2008, at 7%; it should not be presented as a 1958 activity. The comparison of the two largest categories is useful, but the account of the remaining activities is less complete and the opening overview could more clearly summarise the most striking overall changes. Check each figure against the chart and distinguish categories that appear in only one year.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall arrangement: an introduction and overview are followed by paragraphs comparing 1958 and 2008, with a final summary. This makes the main progression easy to follow. Linking expressions such as “However,” “For instance,” and “As compared to 1958” help connect comparisons, and the contrast between work and sleep is presented logically. Some cohesion is less controlled, though: “With increase in work proportion, other proportions also rose” suggests a general relationship that is not established, and the final “Overall” repeats points already made in the overview. To strengthen progression, group the figures by meaningful trends and use references that make clear which year or activity each statement concerns.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of vocabulary for describing proportions and change, including “proportions,” “increased,” “decreased,” and “lowering.” These choices communicate the main comparisons, and “the proportions were almost the same” is an effective description of work and sleep in 1958. Some wording is imprecise or unnatural, such as “the proportions of the way,” “spent in work,” and “give more days to work.” “Hang out” is also informal for an academic report, while “family time” is less precise than naming the chart category, going out with friends and family. Aim for consistent chart language, such as “accounted for,” “spent working,” and “the share of time devoted to,” and avoid implying that percentages represent whole days.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and more complex sentence forms, including comparisons such as “they decreased their sleeping time by 7%, lowering it to 25%.” Most sentences remain understandable, and the time comparisons are generally expressed clearly. Some grammatical errors and awkward constructions remain. For example, “In 1958, majority” needs a determiner (“the majority”), and “the employed people spent more than half of their days doing work and sleep” has an inconsistent structure; use parallel forms such as “working and sleeping.” The sentence beginning “However, the trend changed in 2008, people started…” joins two independent clauses with only a comma. Review articles, parallel structure, and sentence boundaries, while continuing to use varied sentence patterns.

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

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