User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 8.0 Example

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

186 words AcademicTask 1Line Graph

Task 1

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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

Introduce the graph by naming the three fuels, the UK, the years and the unit.
Give an overview of the overall ranking and the contrasting directions of change.
Describe petroleum’s rise, dip and recovery with key dates and approximate figures.
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.

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 8.0

The line graph compares the manufacturing level of 3 primary kinds of fuel in the UK from 1981 to 2000. Overall, while the production of petroleum and natural gas witnessed an upward shift, that of coal took the opposite direction. Among the three, petroleum had the highest production throughout the entire period. In 1981, petroleum production stood at about 90 energy units, compared with approximately 80 for coal and 40 for natural gas. It then climbed steeply to around 140 units by the mid-1980s and stayed near this level until about 1987. After falling to roughly 100 in 1990, petroleum output recovered, reaching about 140 again by the mid-1990s and fluctuating slightly around this figure through 2000.

Coal began at approximately 80 units, but dropped sharply to around 40 in 1984. Although it recovered to just over 60 by 1986, its general trend thereafter was downward, and it finished at about 35 units. Natural gas, by contrast, remained close to 40 units until the early 1990s, then rose markedly. It overtook coal around 1992–1993 and continued to increase, ending at approximately 100 units in 2000.

Targeted Improvement Tips

Revise the overview to state all three headline patterns: petroleum remained highest, gas rose and passed coal, and coal declined overall.

Use “production” or “output” instead of “manufacturing level,” and choose direct trend verbs such as “rose,” “fell,” and “recovered.”

Check each approximate value against the graph and attach it to a clear time reference, especially around the petroleum peak and the gas–coal crossover.

AI Feedback

Overall Band

8.0

Excellent

Words

186

Type

Line Graph

Criteria Breakdown

Task Achievement

7.5 Band

The overview identifies the main directions of change and correctly notes that “petroleum had the highest production throughout the entire period.” The body supports this with useful start, turning-point and end values, including the fall in coal and rise in gas. One opportunity is to bring the gas–coal crossover into the overview as another central comparison; keep using approximate figures and prioritise that feature over smaller fluctuations.

Coherence & Cohesion

8.0 Band

The answer moves from an overview to chronological details, then groups the final comparisons by fuel. Phrases such as “After falling” and “by contrast” make changes and contrasts easy to follow. The separation into paragraphs also helps. The overview’s phrase “took the opposite direction” is less precise than the later account; make the trend explicit there, for example by naming coal’s decline and gas’s eventual rise past coal.

Lexical Resource

7.0 Band

There is useful trend vocabulary in “climbed steeply,” “dropped sharply,” “recovered,” and “fluctuating slightly,” and the answer distinguishes the fuels consistently. However, “manufacturing level” is an imprecise description of the graph, while “witnessed an upward shift” is less direct than the language in the body. Prefer “production” or “output” and concise verbs such as “rose” and “declined” for clearer reporting.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy

8.0 Band

The completed response uses accurate sentence structures, including the contrast in “Although it recovered to just over 60 by 1986, its general trend thereafter was downward.” Tense and comparison are controlled across the time period, and the added details are grammatically clear. Some opening wording is awkward rather than grammatically incorrect. For refinement, check noun phrasing and use a plural construction such as “production levels” when introducing several fuels.

Topic Band Distribution

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Band 8.03 examples

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