The charts below show the percentage of time working adults spent on different activities in a particular country in 1958 and 2008.

Percentage of day doing different activities 1958 and 2008 - IELTS Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

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

Write at least 150 words.

A student's answer to this task, and the feedback on it

Written by an IELTSX user under exam conditions and published unedited and anonymously. Band 8 · 158 words.

The pie charts give information about the percentage of time spent on six different daily activities in 1958 and 2008. Overall, work and sleep together took up the majority of the day in both years. It is also clear that travelling to work and relaxing at home both saw an increase over time, while going out(with friends/family) experienced a decline.

In 1958, working accounted for 33% of people's day, but this figure rose substantially to 42% by 2008, becoming the largest sector. Similarly, the share of travelling to work quadrupled, increasing from a mere 2% to 8%. Relaxation at home also experienced a growth from 8% to 13% over the 50-year period.

Nevertheless, the proportion of time dedicated to sleep and socializing outside has declined from 32% to 25% and 19% to 6%, respectively. Meanwhile, the percentage of the day spent on other activities, such as hobbies, playing, and sports, remained completely unchanged, at merely 6% over time.

Examiner feedback

This is an exceptionally strong response that clearly and accurately summarizes the data. The writer demonstrates a sophisticated command of both vocabulary and grammar, resulting in a cohesive and professional report.

Task Achievement - 9

- All requirements of the task are fully satisfied. - The overview is clear and highlights the main trends (work/sleep dominance, increases in travel/relaxation, decline in socializing). - All key features are accurately reported and supported with data from the charts.

Coherence & Cohesion - 8

- The message is very easy to follow with a logical progression from overview to specific details. - Cohesive devices like 'Similarly', 'Nevertheless', and 'Meanwhile' are used effectively to link ideas. - Paragraphing is appropriate, with a clear separation between categories that increased and those that decreased/remained stable.

Lexical Resource - 8

- Uses a wide resource to convey precise meanings (e.g., 'quadrupled', 'a mere', 'dedicated to', 'accounted for'). - Skillful use of collocations such as 'largest sector' and '50-year period'. - Very few minor inaccuracies, if any.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 8

- A wide range of structures is used accurately, including complex sentences and varied verb tenses. - The majority of sentences are error-free. - Punctuation is well-managed, facilitating smooth reading.

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