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User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 1 Band 7.0 Example

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

222 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

  • Compare which series begins higher and which one ends higher; here, production starts slightly above consumption, but consumption finishes much higher.
  • Identify the different rates of change: production rises gradually, while consumption accelerates after the early plotted years.
  • Mention the axis-label problem: the task’s stated dates do not match the displayed years, and the last year is printed twice.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce the graph, measures, and units.
  2. Give an overview of the overall direction and the main contrast between the two lines.
  3. Describe production’s starting level, plateau, and gradual later rise.
  4. Describe consumption’s early stability and sharper increase, then compare the final plotted values.
  5. Briefly note that the displayed dates are inconsistent or duplicated where this affects interpretation.
Useful vocabulary & examples
rose gradually
increased slowly over time

Oil production rose gradually after remaining near 3 million barrels per day.

remained stable
stayed at approximately the same level

Production remained stable at around 3 million barrels per day for a period.

increased substantially
went up by a large amount

Consumption increased substantially and reached about 6.3 million barrels per day at the final plotted point.

the gap widened
the difference between two values became greater

The gap between oil consumption and production widened as consumption climbed.

Task Prompt

The line graph below shows the oil production and consumption in China between 1982 and 2006.
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 7.0

The line graph illustrates the daily amount of oil consumed and produced in China from 1982 to 2006. It can clearly be seen that China saw increases in both oil production and consumption. However, there were differences in terms of the growth rate over the period surveyed. In 1982, Chinese people consumed and produced just under 2 million barrels per day in consumption and just under 3 million in production. These 1982 figures are estimates from the nearby plotted values, not labelled observations: the graph’s x-axis instead shows 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005, 2010 and a second 2010, which conflicts with the task’s stated 1982–2006 period.

On the plotted series, production rises from about 2 million barrels per day in 1965 to 3 million in 1975, then stays close to 3 million in 1985 and 1995. It edges up to roughly 3.2 million in 2005 and around 3.5 million at the rightmost point. Consumption starts at about 1.8 million in 1965 and increases gradually to around 2 million by 1985. It then climbs faster, reaching approximately 3.4 million in 1995, 4 million in 2005, 5 million at the next plotted point, and just over 6 million at the end. Overall, consumption overtakes production around 1995 and the gap widens substantially, while production changes only modestly after 1975.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
When the task wording and visual disagree, state the mismatch once and identify which dates are actually plotted; do not present interpolated values as labelled data.
2
Build the overview around the key contrast: both series rise, but consumption accelerates and eventually exceeds production.
3
Group figures into comparable periods, and attach each number directly to either production or consumption to avoid ambiguity.

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