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User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 7.0 Example

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

181 words AcademicTask 1Pie Chart
Task 1

Illustrative target band for this original model answer.

Plan your answer

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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

  1. Paraphrase the chart topic and identify both years.
  2. Give an overview of the top reason and the most notable increases and decreases.
  3. Describe the 1987 figures, grouping the largest and smallest categories.
  4. 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.
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 7.0

The charts illustrate how many school leavers chose to study at a certain university in the UK between 1987 and 2007. Overall, there was an increase in the proportion of young people choosing to study at this school because it provided suitable courses and it was close to their homes, while the figures for those who chose it for other reasons changed in different directions. The share selecting the university for quality of resources fell from 21% in 1987 to 17% in 2007, and the figure for good sports and social activities dropped much more sharply, from 19% to 6%.

By contrast, suitable degree courses remained the leading reason in both years, rising slightly from 35% to 37%. The proportion choosing the university because it was close to the parental home more than doubled, from 10% to 22%, making this the second most common reason in 2007. Quality of teaching also became somewhat more important, increasing from 15% to 18%. Thus, although course suitability was consistently the main attraction, proximity gained ground and sports and social provision became far less influential.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Open by stating that the charts compare the proportions of students selecting five reasons, rather than suggesting they show how many students enrolled.
2
In the overview, name the key rises and falls: proximity rose substantially, while sports and social activities fell sharply; course suitability remained the leading reason.
3
Check every category against the chart labels and report all figures consistently: resources 21% to 17%, courses 35% to 37%, proximity 10% to 22%, teaching 15% to 18%, and sports/social activities 19% to 6%.

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