The table below gives information about favourite pastimes in different countries.

Sample Response

1

The given tabletable data shows the favourite pastimespastime activities of people aged 30 to 5030 to 50 years old people’s in eight different countries. As is observed from the provided information, watching Television is the most popular leisure activity of the majority of the people and based on countries, the interests vary to a great deal. According to the given figures, Watching TV is the most popular pastime amongpastime activity among the people aged 30 to 50 in Canada30 to 50 years old people in Canada, Australia and the USA. The people of these three countries who are between 30 to 50 years old spent their 60-65 of past time watching TV. People in Korea, Japan and ChinaKorean, Japanese and Chinese people of this age group prefer to read books while music accounts for 23% in the USAlistening music is most popular among the people of this age group in the USA. Participating in sports is higher in Korea, China, Australia, USA, and Canada than other countries. Interestingly Sleeping and going to the beach are two least preferred activities and people in EnglandEnglish citizens of this age group spend most of their leisure time readingspend their pastime mostly by reading, sleeping and spending time onin their hobbies. No data apart from reading areis given for the Japanese people and French people prefer reading toprefer to read than any other activity. Sleeping accounts for 2% in both Canada and the USASleeping is least popular in Canada and the USA where only 2% of people2% people in this age group spend their leisure time sleeping.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 6.0

The response’s strongest feature is its broad coverage of countries and activities, with several correct comparisons such as the leading television figures and low sleeping rates in Canada and the USA. Its main limitation is accuracy: the overview overstates television’s dominance, and some comparisons treat missing entries as lower values or misidentify the USA’s leading activity. Prioritise checking every generalisation against the table and reporting only supported comparisons with clear percentages.

Band score breakdown

IELTS Writing Criteria Scores

TA

Task Achievement

6.0
Scoring rule

The response identifies several major patterns and includes relevant figures, but some broad claims are inaccurate or unsupported by missing table entries.

Next step

State that television leads in three countries while reading leads in most others, and distinguish unavailable data from zero or lower values.

CC

Coherence and Cohesion

6.0
Scoring rule

The account moves through activities and countries with generally understandable links, but one long paragraph and shifting comparison bases weaken organisation.

Next step

Group the details into countries dominated by television and those dominated by reading, then present exceptions separately.

LR

Lexical Resource

6.0
Scoring rule

There is sufficient topic vocabulary, but awkward or inaccurate combinations such as ‘pastime activities’, ‘spent their 60-65 of past time’, and ‘prefer to read than’ recur.

Next step

Use precise combinations such as ‘leisure activities’, ‘spent 60–65% of their leisure time’, and ‘preferred reading to other activities’.

GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

6.0
Scoring rule

A range of sentence structures is attempted, but frequent errors in possession, articles, prepositions, agreement, and age expressions reduce control.

Next step

Practise plural age-group forms and review article and preposition choices in comparative sentences.

Put the feedback to work

Write this task while it is fresh

Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.

IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

The table below gives information about favourite pastimes in different countries.

Your response

Words0
20:00

Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.