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User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 4.0 Example

Original task prompt, user essay, band score, and related examples in the same report workspace.

205 words AcademicTask 1Bar Chart
Task 1

Illustrative target band for this original model answer.

Plan your answer

Try your own response before reading the samples.

Ideas to explore

  • Compare each country group with the parity benchmark of 100, noting that developed countries reached or exceeded it only in tertiary education.
  • Identify the largest increase: developing countries’ secondary ratio rose by 10 points, from 72 to 82.
  • Highlight the widest gap: tertiary education in 1998 had figures of 75 in developing countries and 112 in developed countries.

Suggested structure

  1. Paraphrase what the chart measures and state the years and education levels.
  2. Give an overview of the overall group difference and identify the most notable level.
  3. Describe the three developing-country ratios, including their changes over time and position relative to 100.
  4. Compare the developed-country figures and finish with the largest gap.
Useful vocabulary & examples
gender parity
Equal representation of females and males, shown here by a ratio of 100 girls per 100 boys.

The developed-country primary ratio was close to gender parity in both years.

edge up
Increase by a small amount.

The developed-country primary ratio edged up from 95 to 96.

remain below the target
Stay under a stated benchmark or goal.

All three developing-country ratios remained below the target of 100 in 1998.

the gap between the groups
The difference between the figures for two categories.

The gap between the groups was largest in tertiary education in 1998.

Task Prompt

The chart below shows the number of girls per 100 boys enrolled in different levels of school education.
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 4.0

To illustrate, the bar chart shows the two genders,boys and girls registered in three different levels of the school educations,primary education,secondary education,tertiary education by two countries which are developing and developed countries in two years of 1990 and 1998. In overview,among of the 3 levels of the education, tertiary education of the developed countries is the highest figure in both years, at 105 girls per 100 boys in 1990 and 112 in 1998. In contrast, the developing countries had lower numbers in all three levels. In primary education, the figure for developing countries rose from 83 to 87, while developed countries went up slightly from 95 to 96.

For secondary education, developing countries recorded 72 in 1990 and 82 in 1998. The developed countries had 98 and 99 girls per 100 boys, respectively. At tertiary level, developing countries also increased, from 66 to 75. All figures in developing countries were below the target of 100. The developed countries were below the target in primary and secondary education, but their tertiary figures were above it. Overall, the numbers increased in every category between 1990 and 1998, and the gap between the two country groups was largest at tertiary level in 1998.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Write a one-sentence overview that compares the groups and identifies the highest and lowest categories before listing individual values.
2
Organise the data into clear paragraphs and include each comparison with its year and unit, such as “83 girls per 100 boys in 1990.”
3
Proofread the introduction for comma spacing, articles and phrases such as “among of”; replace them with standard forms such as “among the” and “overall.”

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