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Writing Academic Task 1 Band 5.0 Example

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

212 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

  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 5.0

the pie charts campare the proportion of factors influencing the student’s choice about their study at a particular UK university between 1987 and 2007 it is clear that suitable degree courses is the common reason affect their choice, which make up 35% in 1987 and slightly increase to 37% in 2007. Similarity, there is a clear change in the percentage for close to parental home, because it rises from 10% to 22%, and it becomes the second most common reason in 2007. In contrast, good sports and social activities becomes much less important, going down from 19% in 1987 to only 6% in 2007. This is the largest fall among all reasons. The quality of resources also decreases, from 21% to 17%, while the quality of teaching goes up a little from 15% to 18%.

Overall, suitable degree courses was the biggest reason in both years, and it changes only slightly. The strongest increase is for living close to parental home, while sports and social activities shows the biggest decrease. In 1987, quality of resources was the second largest factor, but in 2007 this position is taken by close to parental home. The figures show that students place more importance on the distance to home in 2007, whereas activities becomes less important.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Write a separate overview sentence stating that degree courses ranked first in both years, while proximity to home rose and sports and social activities fell.
2
Check every figure against its category before writing: resources 21% to 17%, courses 35% to 37%, proximity to home 10% to 22%, teaching 15% to 18%, and sports/social activities 19% to 6%.
3
After drafting, underline each subject and verb and check agreement; then add full stops to separate the introduction, overview, and detail sentences.

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