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User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 6.0 Example

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

208 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 6.0

The chart compares the number of females per 100 males enrolled in different levels of school education, including primary, secondary, and tertiary education, in developed and developing countries in the year 1990 and 1998. Overall, the most notable trend is that the figures of female students in all three categories of developed and developing countries rose between 1990 and 1998, while developed countries recorded higher ratios than developing ones. The only group to reach the target of 100 girls per 100 boys was tertiary education in developed countries.

In primary education, developing countries increased from 83 to 87 girls per 100 boys, whereas the developed-country figure edged up from 95 to 96. A similar but larger gap was seen in secondary schooling: the ratio in developing countries climbed from 72 to 82, while developed countries rose slightly from 98 to 99, remaining just below the target.

Tertiary education showed the lowest figures in developing countries, although their ratio grew from 66 in 1990 to 75 in 1998. By contrast, the developed-country figure was already above the target at 105 and then rose to 112, the highest value on the chart. Overall, all ratios improved, but progress was more marked in developing countries, particularly at secondary and tertiary levels.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Name the green reference line as the target of 100 girls per 100 boys, then compare each group with it.
2
Use “ratio” or “girls per 100 boys” instead of “figures of female students” so the description matches the chart measure.
3
End with a distinct key comparison—for example, identify which developing-country category increased most—rather than repeating that all values rose.

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