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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.

200 words AcademicTask 1Pie Chart
Task 1

Illustrative target band for this original model answer.

Plan your answer

Try your own response before reading the samples.

Ideas to explore

  • Renewables rose from 15.0% in 2014 to 26.2% in 2018, the most notable increase.
  • Coal fell from 28.4% to 18.1%, while nuclear declined slightly from 22.5% to 21.6%.
  • Gas remained the largest category at 30.1% in both years; Oil and Other stayed at 4.0%.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce the two pie charts, the UK, the years and the percentage measure.
  2. Give an overview highlighting the main increase, the main decrease and stable categories.
  3. Compare the 2014 shares, grouping the larger sources before the smaller ones.
  4. Describe the 2018 figures and directly compare them with 2014.
Useful vocabulary & examples
accounted for
made up a particular proportion of the total

Gas accounted for 30.1% of energy generation in both years.

remained unchanged
stayed at the same level

The share for Oil and Other remained unchanged at 4.0%.

recorded the largest increase
showed the biggest rise in the figures

Renewables recorded the largest increase between 2014 and 2018.

fell by 10.3 percentage points
decreased by the difference between two percentage values

Coal fell by 10.3 percentage points, from 28.4% to 18.1%.

Task Prompt

The pie chart below shows the energy generation by fuel type in the UK over two years. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 9.0

The pie chart gives detailed information about the proportion of energy harnessed from different types of fuel – coal, renewables, nuclear, gas, and oil and other – between 2014 and 2018. Overall, the energy from renewables increased significantly, while there was a fall in the energy generated from nuclear and coal. Additionally, the energy produced by gas remained unchanged, while the share from oil and other sources was stable.

In 2014, gas was the largest source, accounting for 30.1% of generation, closely followed by coal at 28.4%. Nuclear contributed 22.5%, whereas renewables made up 15%. Oil and other fuels represented the smallest proportion, at 4%.

By 2018, renewables had risen to 26.2%, an increase of 11.2 percentage points, becoming the second-largest source. Coal experienced the sharpest decline, falling by 10.3 points to 18.1%. Nuclear's share also edged down, from 22.5% to 21.6%, a reduction of 0.9 points. Gas remained at 30.1% in both years and was still the leading source. The contribution of oil and other fuels was unchanged at 4%. Overall, the chart shows a substantial shift from coal towards renewables, with the other categories changing little or remaining stable.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Use “share” or “proportion of generation” when describing the pie-chart figures, so your wording reflects the percentages shown.
2
When comparing years, state the change in percentage points as well as the new figure, as you do for renewables and coal.
3
Avoid repeating the overview at the end; use the final sentence for a distinct comparison or finish after the last relevant detail.

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