Band 4.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 4.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-22

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 4.5)

The pie charts depict how employed grown ups in a particular country spent their time within the period of 1958 to 2008 . Figures are expressed in percentage.

Overall, it is evident that in 1958 most the adults spent their working and their hardly traveled as such,same happened in 2008. Although playing sports was least for 2008.

Firstly, in 1958 working has the highest activity the adult engaged in which is approximately 33% this was followed by sleeping which is about 32%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 3.5

You identify the charts’ subject and include two accurate figures for 1958: working at 33% and sleeping at 32%. However, the response addresses only a small part of the task. It gives no meaningful account of the 2008 figures or of how the two years compare, and the overview is unclear: “most the adults spent their working” does not accurately summarise the main pattern. The claim that adults “hardly traveled” is also ambiguous and does not report the relevant percentages. Although you mention sports as the least activity in 2008, the chart shows sports and travelling to work tied at 7%, so this is not accurate. The response is 82 words, below the required 150; develop the overview and report key changes across both charts.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 4.5

There is a basic attempt to organise the response into an introduction, an overview and a detail paragraph, using “Overall” and “Firstly” to signal stages. This gives the reader some sense of structure. However, the response stops after one detail about 1958, so there is no progression through the 2008 data or a comparison between years. The overview sentence is difficult to follow, particularly “most the adults spent their working and their hardly traveled as such,” and the link “Although” introduces an incomplete contrast. To improve, use a clear overview paragraph followed by one paragraph comparing the main figures in both years, and connect related changes explicitly, such as increased working time alongside reduced socialising.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant task vocabulary, including “pie charts,” “percentage,” “working,” “sleeping” and “playing sports,” and the meaning of the two reported figures is generally recoverable. However, the range is limited, and several expressions are unnatural or imprecise: “employed grown ups” is less suitable than “working adults,” while “working has the highest activity the adult engaged in” is awkward. “Hardly traveled” does not clearly identify the chart category, which is travelling to work. Aim for precise chart language such as “accounted for,” “share of the day,” and “the largest proportion,” while using the category labels consistently. This would make the limited information clearer and more appropriate for an academic summary.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The response includes a few simple sentence forms and an attempt at a more complex overview, but control is uneven. Errors include the missing article in “most the adults,” the awkward construction “working has the highest activity the adult engaged in,” and the incorrect verb form in “which is approximately 33% this was followed,” where two clauses are joined without suitable punctuation. The opening also has unnecessary spacing before punctuation, and “within the period of 1958 to 2008” is not a well-formed time expression. These problems sometimes make the intended relationships difficult to follow. Practise accurate past-tense reporting and complete sentence boundaries; for example, “In 1958, working accounted for 33%, followed by sleeping at 32%.”

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