Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS Momentum Workout · 2026-10-18

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 provided chart illustrates the mean number of hours that females in various age groups and females with varying levels of education spend on primary activities every week.

Overall, it is clear that the working hours peak among middle-aged women. and those with higher educational qualifications. Conversely, leisure time shows a strong positive correlation with age but an inverse relationship with higher levels of education. Time spent on household activities remains relatively steady across most categories.

Firstly, working hours, young women aged 15-19 spend the fewest hours working (6.9 hours), but work hours steadily rose to a peak of 27.3 hours among 45-54-year-olds before dropping dramatically to just 1.3 hours for those aged 75 and over. Secondly, for leisure and sports, this activity followed the opposite trend. Women aged 15-19 spent 36.8 hours on leisure, which dipped to women aged 25-44, and then climbed sharply to reach a maximum of 51.7 hours among women aged 75 and older.

However, household activities varied moderately across education levels, ranging between 15.2 hours and 20.0 hours than a high school diploma.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You identify several important patterns, including the peak in working hours among middle-aged women, the rise in leisure among older women, and the low working figure for women aged 75 and over. However, the response addresses the chart only partially: the education groups are largely omitted, and the final sentence gives household figures by education without explaining the age-group pattern. Some details are inaccurate or unclear: work peaks at 27.0 hours for both 25–34- and 45–54-year-olds, not 27.3, and leisure does not simply rise with age because it falls from 36.8 hours among teenagers to 27.4 among 35–44-year-olds before increasing. Develop both age and education comparisons more evenly and report the main trends precisely.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure, with an introduction, an overview and paragraphs presenting selected details. The overview also gives the reader a useful sense of the main contrasts. However, progression is weakened by the abrupt transition from age-based comparisons to a final sentence about education, which is incomplete and does not connect clearly to the preceding discussion. The sequence markers “Firstly,” “Secondly,” and “However” feel mechanical, and “this activity followed the opposite trend” does not specify which trend is being contrasted. Organise the body into clear comparisons—such as age patterns followed by education patterns—and use linking phrases that make the relationship between the data explicit.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range of task-related vocabulary, including “mean number,” “peak,” “inverse relationship,” “dipped,” and “climbed sharply.” These choices help describe trends and comparisons, and the meaning is generally clear. Some phrasing is imprecise or awkward, however: “working hours” can suggest contracted employment hours rather than time spent on work-related activities, while “ranging between 15.2 hours and 20.0 hours than a high school diploma” is not a clear or natural description. “Females” is also repeated where “women” would sound more natural in this context. Aim for precise chart language and check that comparisons name the relevant groups and categories.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “Conversely” and a relative clause in “which dipped to women aged 25–44.” Most sentences remain understandable, but some grammatical and punctuation errors reduce control. In the overview, the full stop in “middle-aged women. and those” incorrectly divides the sentence. The opening of the first body paragraph, “Firstly, working hours, young women…,” has a faulty construction, and the final sentence’s comparison (“ranging between … than a high school diploma”) is grammatically incomplete. Review sentence boundaries and ensure each comparison has a clear subject and a correctly formed structure; this will make your otherwise understandable ideas more accurate.

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

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