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.
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

User Essay Analysis
Review the public answer with report-style highlights.
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
Related examples for this topic
Compare different bands on the same IELTS prompt.
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 tha...
Band 8.0The pie graphs illustrate information regarding five primary factors driving the university selection of students in the UK between 1997 and 2007. Overall, there was a decreasin...
Band 7.0The charts illustrate the proportions of why students choose a particular university in UK between the years of 1987 and 2007 Overall, it can be seen that, suitable degree cours...
Band 6.0The provided pie charts illustrate the dominant reasons motivating student choices at a specific UK university in 1987 and 2007. Overall, it can be seen that Suitable degree cou...
Band 5.0Overall, it is clearly observed that the matchable degree courses were the most popular chosen by academicians. In addition, the percentage of most selective factors changed rel...
Band 4.0The pie charts illustrates that key factors influencing students’ choice of UK universities in 1987 and 2007. Overall, Close to parental home rose during time-frame, while a fal...