Back to Writing Hub

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.

179 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

  • Petroleum was the leading fuel throughout, reaching about 140 in the mid-1980s, dipping around 1990–91, then recovering to a similar level.
  • Coal had a sharp early fall, a partial rebound, and then a longer decline to about 35 by 2000.
  • Natural gas stayed near 40 for much of the 1980s, rose strongly after 1991, and ended at about 100, above coal but below petroleum.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce the graph by naming the three fuels, the UK, the years and the unit.
  2. Give an overview of the overall ranking and the contrasting directions of change.
  3. Describe petroleum’s rise, dip and recovery with key dates and approximate figures.
  4. Compare coal’s decline with natural gas’s later growth, including their end values.
Useful vocabulary & examples
remain the leading source
continue to have the highest production level among the categories.

Petroleum remained the leading source throughout the period.

fall sharply
decrease quickly and substantially over a relatively short interval.

Coal production fell sharply to around 40 in 1984.

recover to approximately
rise again after a decline to reach a similar or specified level.

Petroleum recovered to approximately 140 in 1996.

overtake
become greater than another category after previously being lower.

Natural gas overtook coal in the early 1990s.

Task Prompt

The graph below shows the production levels of the main kinds of fuel in the UK between 1981 and 2000. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparison where relevant.
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 5.0

The graph provides information about production of Petroleum fuel, Coal fuel and Natural gas in the UK during 19 years period. Overall, Petroleum was the most popular main fuel for production in UK 1981 until 2000. However, the Coal fuel production fluctuated depends on year, and Natural gas production increased in the last 4 years. At the beginning, Petroleum production was about 90 energy units. It rose quickly to around 140 in 1984, then varied between approximately 100 and 140 for most of the remaining period. It declined to about 100 around 1990–91, before increasing again and finishing at roughly 140 in 2000.

Coal began at around 80 units, but it fell sharply to about 35 in 1984. It recovered to just over 60 in 1986, after which the figure generally went down, ending at approximately 35. By contrast, Natural gas stayed close to 40 units until the late 1980s. From around 1990, it rose steadily, reaching about 75 by 1994 and 100 in 2000. By the end, gas output had overtaken coal, while petroleum remained the highest.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Replace “popular” with a measure of output, and state in the overview that petroleum was highest throughout the period.
2
Describe natural gas as broadly stable near 40 units until around 1990, then rising to about 100 by 2000; avoid limiting its increase to only the final four years.
3
After drafting, check articles, prepositions, and verb forms in the opening—for example, revise “in UK 1981 until 2000” using “in the UK from 1981 to 2000.”

Related examples for this topic

Compare different bands on the same IELTS prompt.

Browse all