Task 1 · pie chart · 18 samples

The charts below show the main reasons why students chose a particular university in the UK, in 1997 and 2007.

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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%.

Sample answers

AI-completed learning example

194 words · Illustrative target band

The 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 fall could be observed in the share of Quality of resources. Furthermore, Suitable degree courses was the most dominant category over others, but only a small fraction of students selected good sports and social activities in 2007, at 6%. In 1987…

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AI-completed learning example

182 words · Illustrative target band

The pie charts compare the percentage of main reasons why American students chose a particular university between 1997 and 2007 Overall, the proportion of students chose university because the suitable degree courses accounted for the highest in both years while the number for proximity to parental home is lowest. Between 1997 and 2007 the proportion of students choosing the other factors also changed. The chart itse…

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AI-completed learning example

205 words · Illustrative target band

The chart compares the reasons why students choose particular university in UK in 1997 and 2007.5 reasons for the same are provided. It is clear that suitability of courses is the main reason throughout the period where as for other reasons there is a notable change. In 1997, good sports and social activities was the most popular reason at 19%. The chart on the left, however, is labelled 1987, not 1997, so the figure…

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