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User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 9.0 Example

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

212 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 begins as the leading destination, dips slightly in 1992, then rises to finish highest.
  • Mountain visitor numbers rise gradually, with little change between 1997 and 2002.
  • The lakes have the most pronounced movement: a steep climb to the 2002 peak followed by a substantial fall.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce the chart, locations, unit and period.
  2. Summarise the overall trends and identify the standout peak or change in ranking.
  3. Describe the coast’s figures in time order.
  4. Compare the more gradual mountain trend with the lakes’ sharper rise and fall.
Useful vocabulary & examples
rose steadily
increased gradually over time

Coastal visitor numbers rose steadily after 1992.

remained close to this level
stayed approximately the same

The mountain figure remained close to 30,000 in 2002.

peaked at
reached its highest point at a particular value

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

fell to
decreased until it reached a stated value

Lake visits fell to 50,000 by 2007.

Task Prompt

The graph below shows the number of overseas visitors to three different areas in a European country between 1987 and 2007.
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 9.0

he line graph illustrates the fluctuations in the number of overseas visitors to three distinct destinations—coastal areas, mountainous regions, and lakes—within a European country from 1987 to 2007. Overall, coastal areas consistently attracted the highest number of visitors, while the lakes recorded the fewest by the end of the period. Despite fluctuations, all three destinations saw an overall increase in visitor numbers across the period, although their patterns differed considerably. At the beginning, the coast was the most popular area, at about 40,000 visitors, compared with roughly 20,000 for the mountains and 10,000 for the lakes. The coastal figure dipped slightly to around 35,000 in 1992, then climbed steadily, reaching approximately 65,000 in 2002 and 75,000 in 2007. Mountain visits rose gradually throughout, from about 20,000 to 35,000, with only a modest change around 1997–2002. In contrast, the lakes increased sharply from roughly 10,000 in 1987 to 40,000 in 1997, then peaked at about 75,000 in 2002. This made the lakes the leading destination at that point, so the coast did not remain highest throughout. Lake visitor numbers subsequently fell to around 50,000 by 2007, leaving them above their starting level but below the coast’s final total.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Rewrite the overview after checking the graph’s highest and lowest series at both the peak year and the final year.
2
Keep the main body comparisons precise: note the coast’s dip to about 35,000 in 1992, the lakes’ 2002 peak, and the mountains’ gradual rise.
3
Proofread the opening word and compare every ranking phrase, such as “highest” or “fewest,” against the plotted lines.

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