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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.

190 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 illustrate the exports of different products between the US and Vietnam. Overall, the US generates more money from its exports compared to Vietnam. Notably, aircraft parts exported from the USA account for the highest revenue, while coffee exports from Vietnam to the US represent the highest share. Looking specifically at the US’s exports to Vietnam, aircraft parts are by far the leading item, at $72 million. The next largest categories are other products ($35 million) and machinery ($30.5 million), followed by fertiliser at $16.5 million. Cotton brings in $12 million, while cars are the smallest category, at $6 million. In the opposite direction, coffee is the largest Vietnamese export to the US, worth $23 million, with fruit and vegetables second at $16 million. The remaining categories are much smaller: seafood accounts for $4.4 million and rice $4.3 million, while garments and other products each contribute $2 million. Thus, both directions show a clear leading product, although aircraft parts dominate US exports far more strongly than coffee does Vietnam’s. Overall, US exports to Vietnam are worth considerably more than Vietnam’s exports to the US.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
State the units and comparison accurately: describe these figures as export values in millions of dollars, rather than as shares.
2
Use parallel wording for the overall comparison, explicitly comparing US exports to Vietnam with Vietnamese exports to the US.
3
Group each chart’s categories from largest to smallest, then end with a brief synthesis of how concentrated or varied each export mix is.

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