Back to Writing Hub

User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 4.0 Example

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

203 words AcademicTask 1Line Graph
Task 1

Illustrative target band for this original model answer.

Plan your answer

Try your own response before reading the samples.

Ideas to explore

  • Identify the overall direction of each line separately: margarine and butter fall over the full period, while the low-fat variety rises after it appears and then declines.
  • Highlight key turning points: butter peaks in 1986, margarine reaches a plateau around 100 grams in 1991–1996, and the low-fat line surges by 2001.
  • Mention crossovers where they change the ranking: Low Fat & Reduced Spreads is highest in 2001, while butter and margarine are no longer the leading series.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce the graph, naming all three spreads, the years and the unit.
  2. Give an overview that accurately summarises the different overall patterns and the late-period ranking.
  3. Describe butter and margarine together, using their start values, peaks or plateaus and final values.
  4. Describe the later-starting low-fat series and compare its 2001 peak with the other spreads.
Useful vocabulary & examples
reached a peak of
rose to its highest recorded value

Butter reached a peak of approximately 160 grams in 1986.

remained stable at
stayed at approximately the same level

Margarine consumption remained stable at around 100 grams from 1991 to 1996.

overtook both alternatives
became higher than the other two series

Low Fat & Reduced Spreads overtook both alternatives in 2001.

eased to
fell slightly or gradually to a lower value

The low-fat spread eased to about 70 grams by 2007.

Task Prompt

The graph below shows the consumption of 3 spreads from 1981 to 2007.
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 4.0

The line graph illustrates information about the consumption of spreads between 1981 and 2007 Overall, the was a huge decline of butter consumtion, from 1986 to 2007, lowfat and reeuced spreads showed a little change between 1996 and 2007. the consumption of margrine declined through years. Firstly, in 1981 the consumption of butter showed about 140 grams. It then increased to approximately 160 grams in 1986, before falling to 100 grams in 1991. After this, butter continued to go down, reaching about 70 grams in 1996 and around 50 grams at the end of the period. In comparison, margarine started at 90 grams and decreased slightly to 80 in 1986. It rose again to 100 grams in 1991, and stayed at this level until 1996. After 1996, it went down, first to about 85 in 2001 and then 40 grams in 2007. The lowfat and reduced spread was not shown before 1996, when it was only 10 grams. It then rose very quickly to about 85 grams in 2001, becoming higher than the other spreads. In 2007, it decreased to 70 grams, while butter and margarine were lower. More specifically, the red line changed considerably overall, despite the earlier description of little change.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Write an overview that accurately contrasts the overall fall in butter with the sharp rise and later decline in the low-fat spread.
2
Organise the body by comparing the two spreads available from 1981, then describe the low-fat spread’s introduction and subsequent change.
3
Proofread the chart’s key nouns and sentence boundaries: check “consumption,” “margarine,” “reduced,” capital letters, and full stops.

Related examples for this topic

Compare different bands on the same IELTS prompt.

Browse all