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.

174 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 the main reasons why students selected a particular university in the UK in 1987 and 2007. Overall, while the suitability of degree courses remained the most significant reason in both years, notable changes occurred in other areas. The importance of proximity to parental homes increased significantly, whereas factors like teaching quality changed only modestly, rising from 15% to 18%, while the proportion selecting the quality of resources declined from 21% to 17%. By contrast, good sports and social activities became much less important, falling from 19% to just 6%.

Suitable degree courses ranked first in both years, increasing slightly from 35% in 1987 to 37% in 2007. Meanwhile, the share of students who chose the university because it was close to their parental home more than doubled, climbing from 10% to 22%; this made proximity the second most common reason in 2007. Taken together, the figures show that course suitability remained dominant, while location gained importance and sports and social provision lost ground. The other considerations changed comparatively little.

Targeted Improvement Tips

Check the conflicting first-year labels in the task wording and chart before submitting; use one year consistently throughout.

Use a compact overview that names the largest category and the strongest increase and decrease, then reserve exact percentages for the detail paragraphs.

Group teaching quality and quality of resources as the comparatively stable categories, and contrast them with the sharper changes in proximity and sports/social activities.

AI Feedback

Overall Band

9.0

Excellent

Words

174

Type

Pie Chart

Criteria Breakdown

Task Achievement

7.0 Band

The overview identifies the leading reason and the rise in proximity, and the response reports the chart’s key figures, including courses at 35% and 37% and sports/social activities falling from 19% to 6%. One source issue needs checking: the task wording says 1997, but the chart itself labels the first year 1987; this answer follows the visible chart. Before writing, verify which date belongs in the final response.

Coherence & Cohesion

7.0 Band

The response moves from an overview to comparisons of the smaller categories, then gives more detail on courses and proximity. Phrases such as “By contrast” and “Meanwhile” help signal the shifts. The information is clear, though some points are repeated between the overview and final sentence. To tighten the report, group the stable or slightly changing categories together and avoid restating the overview at the end.

Lexical Resource

7.0 Band

The answer uses relevant chart language, including “ranked first,” “more than doubled,” and “fell” in appropriate contexts. “The importance of proximity to parental homes” communicates the trend, although “the proportion citing proximity to a parental home” is more precise because the chart shows student shares. As a refinement, vary repeated wording such as “reason” and use the chart’s category labels consistently.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy

7.0 Band

The response shows control of complex sentence patterns, including the contrast beginning “while the suitability of degree courses remained” and the relative clause “who chose the university.” The comparisons and percentages are grammatically understandable. The sentence beginning “The importance of proximity” carries several ideas, so consider splitting it or using a clearer parallel structure. Proofread long sentences for smooth links between contrasting trends.

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