Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-10-30

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 given pie chart compares how working adults in a specific country spent their time in 1958 and 2008.

In 1958, working adults spent 33% of their time in working and rest of the 67% of time in other works including 32% time in sleeping, 8% in relaxation, 2% time for travelling to work and 19% time for going out with friends or family. They spent most of their time in working and sleeping, kept less time for recreation.

In 2008, working adults spent more time in working than of 1958 which was 42%. Again they spent 58% of time in other works including 25% for sleeping, 13% for relaxation, 7% for travelling to work, 6% for going out and 7% time for playing sports. Despite of spending more time in work, they kept much time for recreation purposes.

Overall, working adults in 1958 spent less time in working but did only a few things in rest of the time whereas working adults in 2008 not only spent more time in working but also spent more time for recreation in rest of the day.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You report the figures accurately, including the rise in working from 33% to 42%, and the changes in sleeping, travel, socialising and sports. The response also gives an overall comparison: work took a larger share in 2008, while socialising fell and sports appeared. This addresses the main features of both charts. However, the overview is not fully precise: saying people in 2008 spent “more time for recreation” is too broad, since relaxing at home and sports increased but going out with friends or family dropped sharply from 19% to 6%. The claim that 1958 adults “did only a few things” is also not clearly supported by the chart. Make the overview more analytical by distinguishing these contrasting leisure trends.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a clear basic structure: an introduction, a paragraph for each year, and a concluding overview. The figures are generally grouped by year, so the reader can follow the comparison. However, the final overview repeats points already made rather than drawing the key contrasts together, and the progression between details and interpretation is sometimes unclear. For example, “They spent most of their time in working and sleeping, kept less time for recreation” is attached to the 1958 figures without explaining how this compares with 2008. Linking expressions such as “Again” and “Despite of” do not always express the intended relationship accurately. Organise the overview around the main changes, then use clearer links to show increases and decreases.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing the chart, including “spent,” “including,” “relaxation,” and “recreation purposes,” and the activity labels are mostly clear. However, several phrases are awkward or imprecise, which limits the naturalness and flexibility of the vocabulary. “Spent 33% of their time in working” and “kept less time for recreation” are not idiomatic ways to describe proportions, while “other works” is an unsuitable label for the remaining activities. Repetition of “spent time” and “working adults” also makes the response less varied. Aim for accurate collocations such as “accounted for,” “allocated to,” and “leisure activities,” while keeping the wording concise and appropriate for a data report.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including the contrast in “Despite of spending more time in work…” and the concluding “not only…but also” construction. The main comparisons remain understandable, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “the rest of the 67% of time” has an awkward article and noun phrase, and “more time in working than of 1958” uses an incorrect comparison structure. “Despite of” is also grammatically incorrect; use “Despite spending…” or “Although they spent…”. There are some punctuation and spacing issues, such as the extra space before “of time.” Work on comparative patterns and clause construction to make the range of structures more controlled and accurate.

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

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