The table below shows average hours and minutes spent by UK males and females on different daily activities.
Sample Response
The table data illustrates how much time an average British male and female spent on various daily activities. It is apparently seen that sleeping consume the highest duration of a day while leisure and professional activities involve a notable portion of their time. Moreover, females do more house works and childrearing than males do on a daily basis. As can be seen, an average British male sleeps and rests just over 8 hours a day while female’s sleeping and resting time is slightly higher than that. A similar pattern could be observed on the duration of personal care by British. Further, a male takes an hour and 25 minutes to enjoy their meals while it is 6 minutes shorter for their counterparts. Looking further, men spend 5:25 hours to enjoy their leisure activities while it is around 28 minutes less for females. Watching TV and enjoying music is a popular pastime activity among British as they spend over half of their leisure times on that. They spend less time reading or participating in sports than they do for watching TV and listening to music. Men spend 3 hours and 45 minutes a day for professional and academic purposes, more than females involvement on this. However, females devote more time for household works, childcare and voluntary works, roughly 4 hours, compared to almost half of that by men. Finally, British travel for nearly 1 and half hour daily and men employ slightly more time doing it than that of females.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use present tense Original: spent on various daily activities Suggested revision: spend on various daily activities Why it matters: The table presents general daily averages, so the description should use the present tense.
- 2. Remove awkward phrasing Original: It is apparently seen Suggested revision: It is apparent Why it matters: The original passive expression is unnatural and unnecessarily wordy.
- 3. Fix agreement Original: sleeping consume Suggested revision: sleeping consumes Why it matters: The singular gerund sleeping requires a singular verb.
- 4. Describe time naturally Original: highest duration of a day Suggested revision: largest amount of time each day Why it matters: Duration is not naturally described as the highest part of a day.
- 5. Use uncountable noun Original: house works Suggested revision: housework Why it matters: Housework is an uncountable noun written as one word.
- 6. Use plural possessive Original: female’s sleeping and resting time Suggested revision: females' sleeping and resting time Why it matters: The comparison refers to women generally, so a plural possessive is needed.
- 7. Clarify the comparison Original: on the duration of personal care by British Suggested revision: in the time British people spend on personal care Why it matters: The revision expresses the activity and population in natural English.
- 8. Match plural reference Original: a male takes Suggested revision: men spend Why it matters: Using a plural subject agrees with the later pronoun their and suits a population average.
- 9. State difference directly Original: it is 6 minutes shorter for their counterparts Suggested revision: women spend six minutes less Why it matters: The direct comparison clearly identifies the female figure shown in the table.
- 10. Write time in words Original: 5:25 hours Suggested revision: 5 hours and 25 minutes Why it matters: Writing hours and minutes explicitly avoids reading the value as a decimal or clock time.
- 11. Use singular time Original: their leisure times Suggested revision: their leisure time Why it matters: Leisure time is uncountable in this context.
- 12. Fix possessive phrase Original: females involvement on this Suggested revision: the time females spend on these activities Why it matters: The revision corrects the missing possessive and gives the comparison a clear referent.
Suggested Rewrites
- spent on various daily activities spend on various daily activities
- It is apparently seen It is apparent
- sleeping consume sleeping consumes
- highest duration of a day largest amount of time each day
- house works housework
- female’s sleeping and resting time females' sleeping and resting time
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response gives a clear overview and covers most major male-female contrasts with generally accurate figures, especially for sleep, leisure, employment, and domestic work. Its main limitation is recurring grammatical and collocational awkwardness, alongside minor numerical imprecision in the leisure comparison. Prioritise accurate comparative calculations and revise agreement, possessives, articles, and prepositions so the otherwise well-selected information reads more naturally and precisely.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The response selects the major patterns and reports most figures accurately, although the overall leisure gap is 32 minutes rather than 28 and some generalisations are approximate.
Check every calculated difference against the table and state that television and music account for about half of leisure time.
Coherence and Cohesion
The report moves coherently through daily activities and uses comparisons effectively, but all stages are compressed into one long paragraph.
Use a separate overview and group the detailed comparisons into leisure and work or domestic categories.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied enough to describe time use and comparisons, though phrases such as sleeping consume, house works, and employ time are inaccurate or unnatural.
Prefer precise collocations such as sleep accounts for, housework, spend time on, and devote time to.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex structures are attempted and meaning remains clear, but errors in agreement, possessives, articles, pronouns, and comparison forms occur frequently.
Edit systematically for singular-plural control and possessive forms, especially in sentences comparing males with females.