Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-11-01

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 two pie chats illustrate the percentage of how working adults spent their time in 1958 and 2008.

Overall, people spent most of their time in working, then in sleeping. And they spent less time sports and travelling to work.

In 1958, people spend most of their time in work account for 33%, followed by sleeping about 32%. Meanwhile, they spent 19% of their time with family and friends. People spent least portion of time in sports about 6% and 2 % in travelling to work respectively.

In 2008, again working activitey remained on the top of chart accounting for 42%, followed by sleeping activity about 25%. Relaxing at home account for 13% leaving going with family and friends behined. Sports and travelling to work represents 14% colectively. Going with riends and family is at the least time spent activities about 6%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify the main categories and report several accurate figures, including work rising from 33% to 42%, sleep falling from 32% to 25%, and time with friends and family declining to 6%. However, the overview is incomplete and partly misleading: sports is not shown in 1958, so describing it as one of the least-used activities then is inaccurate, and the chart’s 2008 sports and commuting figures are each 7%. The key shift toward work and away from socialising could be stated more clearly, and the new sports category in 2008 should be distinguished from the 1958 data. The response also falls eight words short of the required minimum, limiting the detail provided. Develop the overview and compare the main changes more fully.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for the two years. This makes the information reasonably easy to follow, and phrases such as “In 1958” and “In 2008” clearly signal the time period. However, some connections are mechanical or unclear. The overview’s “And they spent less time sports and travelling” does not specify the year or make the comparison explicit, while “respectively” in the 1958 paragraph has no clear pair of activities to refer to. The final sentence repeats the 6% figure already given. Improve progression by grouping the largest increases and decreases together and using clear comparisons rather than repeating individual details.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing charts, including “percentage,” “accounting for,” “followed by,” and “collectively.” These choices show an attempt to use task-appropriate language, but the range is limited and several word-choice, collocation, and spelling errors reduce precision. For example, “spent most of their time in working” is not a natural collocation, and “going with family and friends” does not accurately express “going out with friends/family.” There are also misspellings such as “activitey,” “behined,” and “ri ends” (intended as “friends”). Use precise activity labels from the chart and vary comparison language, for example “accounted for,” “declined,” and “rose.” Proofreading spelling would make the report clearer.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more developed sentence forms, including “Meanwhile, they spent 19% of their time…” and the participle phrase “accounting for 42%.” The meaning is generally recoverable, but errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence construction occur across the response. For instance, “In 1958, people spend” should use past tense, and “Relaxing at home account for 13%” needs subject–verb agreement and a consistent past-tense report. The overview fragment beginning “And they spent less time…” is also awkwardly attached to the preceding statement. Practise maintaining past tense throughout and building complete sentences around comparisons; accurate basic structures will help your more complex attempts read smoothly.

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

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