User-written IELTS example
Writing Academic Task 1 Band 5.0 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 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
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 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 p...
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...