Back to Writing Hub

User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 6.0 Example

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

213 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

  • The coast grows overall despite a small dip between 1987 and 1992, then finishes with the highest visitor total.
  • The lakes show the largest fluctuation: a sharp rise to a 2002 peak followed by a substantial fall.
  • The mountains remain the least visited area at the end, but their numbers increase gradually rather than decline.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce the graph, its subject, locations and time period.
  2. Give an overview of the broad trends, the lakes’ peak and the final ranking.
  3. Describe the coast’s starting point, brief decline and subsequent rise.
  4. Compare the mountains’ steady increase with the lakes’ rise and later fall.
Useful vocabulary & examples
rose steadily
increased gradually over a period

Visitor numbers for the mountains rose steadily from about 20,000 to 35,000.

peaked at
reached the highest point

The number of visitors to the lakes peaked at approximately 75,000 in 2002.

fell to
decreased and reached a particular level

The lakes’ figure fell to around 50,000 by 2007.

ended as the most popular destination
had the highest visitor figure at the end of the period

The coast ended as the most popular destination, at about 75,000 visitors.

Task Prompt

The graph below shows the number of overseas visitors to three different areas in a European country between 1987 and 2007 Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 6.0

The presented flow graph illustrates the number of overseas tourist to the coast, the mountains and the lakes in a country in Europe, from 1987 to 2007. At the first glance, it is seen that the coast has almost doubled its visitor number over the 20-year time period. The mountain tourist number is the most stable of the three, rising gradually from about 20,000 in 1987 to 35,000 in 2007, while the lakes experienced the sharpest changes. In 1987, the coast attracted 40,000 visitors, twice the figure for the mountains and four times the lake total of 10,000. Coast visitor numbers then slipped to around 35,000 in 1992 before climbing steadily, reaching 60,000 in 2002 and approximately 75,000 by 2007. The number visiting the mountains increased more modestly, to roughly 25,000 in 1992 and 30,000 in 1997. It remained at about this level in 2002, before ending at 35,000. By contrast, visitors to the lakes rose from 10,000 to 40,000 between 1987 and 1997, then surged to a peak of about 75,000 in 2002, making them the most popular area at that point. The figure subsequently fell to 50,000 by 2007, when the coast had become the leading destination.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
State the unit once near the beginning: the values are visitor numbers in thousands.
2
Make the overview a distinct sentence that contrasts the coast’s overall rise, the mountains’ gradual increase, and the lakes’ sharp rise and fall.
3
Before submitting, check plural agreement and collocations, especially “number of tourists” and “visitors to the mountains.”

Related examples for this topic

Compare different bands on the same IELTS prompt.

Browse all