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 chart illustrates the information about working adults in a particular country spent their time between 1958 and 2008.

It is evident that the highest percentage of adults spent their time on working in both years ,while travelling to work took smallest part ,over the 50 -year period.It is also noticable that , playing sports are new add in adults activites in 2008.

In terms of spending time, in 1958 adults spent their 33% time on working ,However ,they also spent 32% time on sleeping.The figure for going out with friends/family was at 19%, 8% time they spent on relaxing at home .For travelling to work they spent only at 2% of time ,which is much lower than other categories.

Regarding the remaining parts, in 2008 the pattern had increased at 42% time spent on working,while for sleeping they spent only 25% time .Going out with family was sharply dicreased at 6% only.For relaxing and travelling to work was slightly increased at 13% and 6% respectively.In addition was playing sports at 7%.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover both years and report the main shifts accurately: working rises from 33% to 42%, sleeping falls from 32% to 25%, and going out with friends or family drops from 19% to 6%. Your overview also identifies working as the largest category in both years and sports as a new activity in 2008. However, the claim that travelling to work took the smallest share across the period is not accurate for 2008, when it was 7%, equal to sports and above going out. The 2008 travel figure is also reported as 6% rather than 7%. Relaxing and travel are mentioned, but the comparison of their changes could be clearer and more fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, an overview, and separate paragraphs for the two years. This makes the information generally easy to follow, and phrases such as “In terms of” and “Regarding the remaining parts” signal a change in focus. However, progression within the paragraphs is sometimes mechanical, with several figures listed one after another rather than grouped by meaningful comparisons. The overview’s claim about travel being the smallest category also makes the comparison less clear. Some linking is awkward, as in “For relaxing and travelling to work was slightly increased,” where the relationship between the categories is difficult to follow. Grouping the rises and falls and using clearer references would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing charts, including “percentage,” “figure,” “sharply decreased,” and “slightly increased,” and the activity labels are generally clear. This gives you enough range to communicate the main comparisons, but word choice and spelling errors are noticeable and sometimes make the phrasing less natural. Examples include “noticable,” “dicreased,” and “new add,” while “spent their 33% time on working” is an awkward collocation. “The pattern had increased” is also imprecise because it is the proportion for working that increased, not the overall pattern. Aim for accurate chart language such as “the proportion rose” and check spelling and word forms carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including comparisons introduced by “while” and “which,” and the main figures can usually be understood. However, grammatical control is uneven, with errors in sentence construction, articles, agreement, and punctuation. For example, “The pie chart illustrates the information about working adults … spent their time” lacks a grammatical link between the adults and the time they spent. “Playing sports are new add” has problems with agreement and sentence structure, and “For relaxing and travelling to work was slightly increased” is not a complete, well-formed construction. Commas and spacing around punctuation are also inconsistent. Practise building accurate comparison sentences before adding more complex clauses.

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

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