Back to Writing Hub

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.

192 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

  • Highlight the main crossover: Japan leads in the earlier years, while China overtakes it between 2005 and 2010.
  • Contrast China’s steep late increase with Japan’s gradual decline.
  • Note that the smaller series do not follow one pattern: the US fluctuates, whereas India rises to a peak and then falls.

Suggested structure

  1. Paraphrase what the graph measures and give the years covered.
  2. Summarise the overall ranking change and the main trends without listing every figure.
  3. Compare Japan and the US, using starting points, changes and final values.
  4. Describe China and India together, emphasising China’s sharp late rise and India’s smaller peak and decline.
Useful vocabulary & examples
accounted for
formed a particular percentage or share of the total

Japan accounted for about 26% of Australian exports in 1990.

rose sharply
increased quickly and substantially

China’s share rose sharply after 2005.

fluctuated
went up and down rather than changing steadily in one direction

The percentage for the US fluctuated over the period.

peaked at
reached its highest point at a particular value

India’s share peaked at about 7% in 2010.

Task Prompt

The line graph shows the percentages of Australian export with four countries. The graph below shows the percentage of Australian exports to 4 countries from 1990 to 2012
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 8.0

The line graph presented visually represents the percentages of Australian exports to four specific countries over a span of 22 years, from 1990 to 2012. Overall, the data depicts an upward trend in the percentage of exports to China, a gradual decline in exports to Japan, fluctuating trends in exports to the US, and significant growth in China's share, while India's figure rose before dipping slightly at the end. China became the largest destination by 2010, while Japan led until 2005.

In 1990, Japan accounted for about 26% of exports, compared with 11% for the US; China and India were much lower, at roughly 2% and 1%. Japan's share fell to 20% in 1995, then declined gradually to around 17% in 2010, remaining stable in 2012.

China rose from about 2% to 5% in 2000 and 11% in 2005, before surging to 25% in 2010 and 28% in 2012. The US fluctuated, dropping to 8% in 1995, recovering to 11% in 2000, then falling to 5% in 2010 and ending at 7%. India stayed near 1% through 2000, climbed to 5% in 2005, peaked at 7% in 2010, and finished at 5%.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Make the overview more economical by stating each country’s main pattern once, then use the saved space for a contrast such as China overtaking Japan.
2
Group related data in the body: compare Japan’s decline with China’s rise, then summarise the smaller fluctuations for the US and India.
3
Check each year and percentage against the graph before drafting; use approximate values where the plotted points do not show exact labels.

Related examples for this topic

Compare different bands on the same IELTS prompt.

Browse all