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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.

181 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

  • Compare the largest category in each direction: aircraft parts are $72 million from the US to Vietnam, while coffee is $23 million from Vietnam to the US.
  • Highlight the gap between the leading and smaller categories: US exports include other goods at $35 million and machinery at $30.5 million, while Vietnam’s garments and other exports are both $2 million.
  • Point out close values where they help summarise the data: Vietnam’s seafood ($4.4 million) and rice ($4.3 million) are almost equal.

Suggested structure

  1. Paraphrase what the charts compare and state that values are in millions of dollars.
  2. Give an overview naming the leading category in each direction and any notable tie or overall contrast.
  3. Describe US-to-Vietnam exports from the largest value to the smallest.
  4. Describe Vietnam-to-US exports in descending order, grouping the close seafood and rice figures and the tied lowest figures.
Useful vocabulary & examples
account for
to make up or represent a stated amount or share

Aircraft parts account for $72 million of exports to Vietnam.

be valued at
to have a stated monetary value

Machinery is valued at $30.5 million.

be tied at
to have the same value as another category

Garments and other exports are tied at $2 million.

followed by
used to introduce the next item in a ranking

Coffee leads at $23 million, followed by fruit and vegetables at $16 million.

Task Prompt

The pie charts below shows exports between the US and Vietnam
IELTS Writing Task 1 visual

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 9.0

The pie charts show the exports between the United States and Vietnam in millions of dollars. Overall, Vietnam mainly exported farm products to the US, especially coffee, while the US mostly exported industrial goods to Vietnam, with aircraft parts being the largest category. The types of goods exported by each country were quite different. Looking at the figures, we can see that coffee was worth $23 million, compared with $16 million for fruit and vegetables. Seafood and rice were similar, at $4.4 million and $4.3 million respectively, while garments and other goods each stood at $2 million. By contrast, aircraft parts were by far the largest US export to Vietnam, at $72 million. Other goods ranked second at $35 million, followed by machinery at $30.5 million. Fertiliser and cotton accounted for $16.5 million and $12 million respectively, while cars were lowest at $6 million. The gap between the largest and second-largest category was also much wider for the US: aircraft parts exceeded other goods by $37 million, whereas coffee was only $7 million above fruit and vegetables.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
State the unit and the two export directions in the introduction so readers know exactly what each chart measures.
2
Keep the main body organised by direction: first Vietnam-to-US categories, then US-to-Vietnam categories.
3
Prioritise comparisons as well as values: note the leading categories and, where useful, compare the gaps between the top two.

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