User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 9.0 Example

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

190 words AcademicTask 1Pie 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 the leading reason across both years: suitable degree courses ranked first, rising slightly from 35% to 37%.
Highlight the largest increase: choosing a university close to the parental home went from 10% to 22%.
Contrast the sharpest decline with the smaller fall: sports and social activities dropped from 19% to 6%, while quality of resources moved from 21% to 17%.

Suggested structure

Paraphrase the chart topic and identify both years.
Give an overview of the top reason and the most notable increases and decreases.
Describe the 1987 figures, grouping the largest and smallest categories.
Compare the 2007 figures with 1987, using exact percentages and clear change language.

Useful vocabulary & examples

accounted for: made up a particular percentage or share
Suitable degree courses accounted for 35% of responses in 1987.
rose slightly: increased by a small amount
The share choosing suitable degree courses rose slightly to 37%.
increased considerably: grew by a noticeable amount
The proportion choosing a university close to home increased considerably, from 10% to 22%.
fell substantially: decreased by a large amount
Good sports and social activities fell substantially, from 19% to 6%.

Task Prompt

The charts below show the main reasons why students chose a particular university in the UK, in 1997 and 2007.

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 9.0

The two pie charts illustrate primary factors that influenced students’ decisions to pursue higher education institutions in the UK from 1997 to 2007. Overall, it is evident that academic-related reasons have become prominent over a decade, while non-academic aspects have been marginalized. The proportion of relevant academic programs consistently remained the prevailing factor, while robust growth was seen in the proportion choosing a university because it was close to home.

Suitable degree courses were the leading reason in both years, accounting for 35% in the earlier year and rising slightly to 37% in 2007. The share who selected the university for its proximity to their parental home more than doubled, from 10% to 22%, making it the second most common reason in 2007. Quality of teaching also rose, from 15% to 18%.

In contrast, the importance of good sports and social facilities fell sharply from 19% to 6%, the largest decline among the five categories. Quality of resources decreased more modestly, from 21% to 17%. Overall, the figures show a mixed pattern rather than a uniform shift: course choice and proximity gained ground, while resources and facilities became less influential.

Targeted Improvement Tips

Revise the overview so it captures both increases and decreases; specifically, include the substantial rise in choosing the university for proximity to home.

Check the first-year label against the task wording before finalising: the supplied image appears to show 1987, but the written task states 1997.

Use the chart’s category names consistently, then compare each with accurate change language such as “rose slightly”, “more than doubled” and “fell sharply”.

AI Feedback

Overall Band

9.0

Excellent

Words

190

Type

Pie Chart

Criteria Breakdown

Task Achievement

6.0 Band

The completed response reports all five categories and their key changes, including the rise in home proximity from 10% to 22% and the fall in facilities from 19% to 6%. However, the opening claim that “non-academic aspects have been marginalized” overlooks that increase. Also, the image appears to label the first year 1987, while the task wording and preserved opening say 1997; check this discrepancy.

Coherence & Cohesion

6.0 Band

The answer moves from an overview to the leading and rising reasons, then contrasts these with the declining categories. This makes the comparisons easy to follow, especially the paragraph beginning “In contrast”. The overview’s broad division between academic and non-academic reasons does not fit the increase in proximity to home. Next, make the overview reflect the mixed pattern that the final sentence describes.

Lexical Resource

6.0 Band

There is useful chart vocabulary in phrases such as “fell sharply”, “more than doubled” and “the leading reason”. Some choices are less precise: “pursue higher education institutions” is an awkward collocation, and “relevant academic programs” does not match the chart’s label, “Suitable degree courses”. Use the category labels where possible and reserve evaluative terms such as “robust” for changes that are clearly substantial.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy

5.5 Band

The response uses complex clauses, including “while non-academic aspects have been marginalized”, and the completed comparisons are generally understandable. The main weakness is phrasing rather than pervasive sentence breakdown: “decisions to pursue higher education institutions” does not express the intended relationship naturally. A useful next step is to check verb–object combinations and use a simple subject such as “students choosing the university” when describing the chart.

Topic Band Distribution

Band 9.03 examples

Band 8.03 examples

Band 7.03 examples

Band 6.03 examples

Band 5.03 examples

Band 4.03 examples

Practice this prompt

Use the same topic in Hack Admission AI and compare your answer with this example.

Check your answer on this topic Browse all examples

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 9.0 Example

Plan your answer

Ideas to explore

Suggested structure

Task Prompt

User Essay Analysis

Targeted Improvement Tips

Enhanced Essay

Related examples for this topic