Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-09-16

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The bar chart below shows the average number of hours that women in various age groups and women with varying levels of education spend on primary activities each week.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Average hours per week women spent in selected primary activities, by age and educational attainment, 2009

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The given bar chart compares women in different age groups and with different levels of education spend average hours per week on selected primary activities in the year 2009.

Overall, leisure and sports was the most significant primary activity on which varying age women and women with different educational degrees spent their most average hours in a week. Furthermore, the least amount of time spent on working and other work related activities was observed in the age group 75 and over.

In terms of varying age, all age groups spent their most time in a week on leisure and sports, with the age group 75 and over topping the chart at 51.7 followed closely by descending age group 65 to 74, who spent 44 average hours. The remaining age groups remained between the average hours of 25-40. The average hours spent on household activites experineced a steady growth when moving from low to higher age groups, whilst the lowest average hours were spent on working and work related activites.

In terms of educational attainment, the most avera,ge hours was spent on leisure and sports by the people having less than a high school diploma, followed closely by household activites and least amount was spent on workinfg and other work related activities.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student attempts to cover the main features of the chart, providing an overview and mentioning data for both age groups and educational levels. However, the response contains grammatical and lexical errors in the opening sentence ('compares women in different age groups... spend average hours'), and the final paragraph is cut off or incomplete ('most avera,ge hours'). While key trends—such as leisure and sports being the highest activity—are identified, some descriptions are vague or inaccurate (e.g., stating the remaining age groups remained between 25-40 when some were lower, and missing detailed data points). It addresses the task adequately, meeting the core requirements, but lacks thorough data support in places, placing it at a Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response has a clear overall structure, opening with an introduction and overview, followed by body paragraphs dedicated to age and educational attainment respectively. Paragraphing is logical. However, cohesive devices are somewhat mechanical or limited, and referencing is occasionally unclear (e.g., 'the age group 75 and over topping the chart at 51.7 followed closely by descending age group 65 to 74'). Transitions between ideas lack sophistication, resulting in an arrangement that is coherent overall but occasionally faulty in execution. This performance aligns with Band 6.0 descriptors.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting some less common collocations such as 'educational attainment' and 'primary activities'. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors, including typos like 'activites', 'experineced', 'avera,ge', and 'workinfg'. The phrasing 'spent average hours' is awkward and unnatural. The vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the intended meaning, but errors in word form and spelling prevent the response from achieving a higher band, justifying a score of 5.5.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, using subordinating clauses such as 'whilst the lowest average hours were spent on working'. However, grammatical control is inconsistent. The opening sentence contains a serious structural error ('compares women... spend average hours'). There are frequent errors in verb forms, prepositions, and sentence construction (e.g., 'varying age women', 'least amount of time spent on working and other work related activities'). While communication is generally maintained, errors are frequent enough to impede fluency at times, fitting the Band 5.5 criteria.

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

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