Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Recent IELTS Exams (Canada & India) · 2026-11-03

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 pie charts compare the parcentages of the day spent by working adults on different activities in a specific country in 1958 and 2008.

Overall, The pie charts clearly show that the people of that particular country spent most of their time in working and least time in travelling to work.

For working, in 1958, One third of the total time was spend on working ,which went up to 42% in the year 2008. Relaxing at home was 8% in 2008,which increase by 5% in the gap of 50 years. Travelling to work increased by 5% from 1958 to 2008. Only 6% of the total adults used to spent time on playing sports ,which just incresed 1% in 2008.

In 1958, almost a third adults spend their time on sleeping while that reduced to one fourth in the 50 years gap. In 1958, hanging out with friends/ family accounted for 19% ,that significantly dropped in 2008( 6%).

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You identify the two years and report several important changes, including the rise in working time from 33% to 42%, the fall in sleeping from about a third to a quarter, and the sharp decline in socialising from 19% to 6%. However, the overview is not fully accurate: travelling was the smallest category in 1958, but in 2008 it was not, since both commuting and sport were 7%. There are also factual errors: relaxing at home rose from 8% to 13%, not from 8% in 2008, and sport appears only in the 2008 chart, so the claim that it increased from 6% is unsupported. A clearer overview and more reliable comparisons would make the summary more complete.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and paragraphs describing changes across the two years. This helps the reader follow the main comparisons. However, the progression is not consistently clear because several categories are grouped together without a clear organising principle, and the overview’s claim about the least-used activity does not fit both years. Some linking is also awkward or repetitive, such as “in the gap of 50 years” and repeated openings with “In 1958.” Organise the details into clearer comparisons—for example, increases in work, home relaxation and commuting, followed by decreases in sleep and socialising—and use precise references to each year.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing charts, including “accounted for,” “reduced,” “increased,” and “dropped,” and the meaning is generally understandable. However, the range is limited and some choices are informal or imprecise for an academic report. “Hanging out with friends/family” is conversational; “socialising with friends and family” would be more suitable. “Spent time on working” is an awkward collocation, while “spend time on playing sports” is also unnatural. There are noticeable spelling errors, including “parcentages,” “incresed,” and “spend” where the past form is needed. Use accurate chart vocabulary and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt a mixture of simple statements and longer comparative sentences, and the main message can usually be understood. However, errors recur in verb forms, articles, sentence boundaries and punctuation. For example, “One third of the total time was spend on working” should use “spent,” and “adults spend their time on sleeping” needs a past-tense form. The sentence beginning “Relaxing at home was 8% in 2008,which increase…” has both an inaccurate tense and a missing space after the comma. Capitalisation is also inconsistent, as in “Overall, The pie charts” and “One third.” Aim for consistently controlled past-tense reporting and separate clauses with accurate punctuation.

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

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