The pie chart below shows the main reasons why agricultural land becomes less productive. The table shows how these causes affected three regions of the world during the 1990s.
Sample Response
The provided pie charts have four sections, each illustrates the reason of farmland degradation. However, the given table shows the effect of these causes on agricultural lands in three parts of world namely NorthAmerica, Europe and Oceania during the 1990s.
As is presented in the pie chart, overgrazing and deforestation are the predominant reasons for losing the productivity of lands which together contribute to 65%. Next, man-made activities such as over-cultivation are responsible for degradation up to 28% which is almost 4 times larger than other factors.
According to data given in the table, In 19990, farmland of Europe degraded to the much extent (23 percent land degraded) as compared to other regions, the cause behind this was deforestation. About 10% land lost productivity because of deforestation which is 5 times greater than Oceania. However, deforestation in North America was observed very less only 0.2percent. Interestingly, In 1990, over cultivation had no effect on islands in the South Pacific. Nevertheless, in other two parts percentage remained between 3 to 8percent. Effect of overgrazing was very less in NorthAmerica. However, it is almost 10times larger in Oceania.
In conclusion, in 1990, Europe and Oceania faced the higher problem of land degradation as compared to North America. The main causes behind it were deforestation and overgrazing.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use singular chart Original: charts Suggested revision: chart Why it matters: The visual contains one pie chart, not multiple pie charts.
- 2. Fix clause structure Original: illustrates Suggested revision: illustrating Why it matters: The participle correctly attaches the description to the four sections without creating a comma splice.
- 3. Fix noun collocation Original: reason Suggested revision: cause Why it matters: 'Cause of' is the natural collocation for explaining why degradation occurs.
- 4. Add definite article Original: three parts of world Suggested revision: three parts of the world Why it matters: The fixed phrase requires 'the' before 'world'.
- 5. Use concise terminology Original: reasons for losing the productivity of lands Suggested revision: causes of declining land productivity Why it matters: The revision expresses the process in concise, natural academic language.
- 6. Report exact share Original: responsible for degradation up to 28% Suggested revision: account for 28% of degradation Why it matters: The chart gives an exact proportion, so 'account for' is more accurate than 'up to'.
- 7. Fix ratio expression Original: almost 4 times larger than other factors Suggested revision: four times as large as the share for other factors Why it matters: The standard multiplicative comparison uses 'times as large as'.
- 8. Correct time period Original: In 19990 Suggested revision: During the 1990s Why it matters: The table covers the 1990s rather than a single year, and 19990 is invalid.
- 9. Complete percentage phrase Original: 23 percent land degraded Suggested revision: 23% of land was degraded Why it matters: A percentage requires 'of' before the noun and a finite verb in this clause.
- 10. Add percentage preposition Original: About 10% land lost productivity Suggested revision: About 10% of land lost productivity Why it matters: Use 'of' between a percentage and the noun it quantifies.
- 11. Correct regional ratio Original: 5 times greater than Oceania Suggested revision: nearly six times the figure for Oceania Why it matters: The table shows 9.8% for Europe and 1.7% for Oceania, a ratio of nearly six to one.
- 12. Correct period and term Original: In 1990, over cultivation Suggested revision: During the 1990s, over-cultivation Why it matters: The data cover the decade, and the chart hyphenates 'over-cultivation'.
Suggested Rewrites
- charts chart
- illustrates illustrating
- reason cause
- three parts of world three parts of the world
- reasons for losing the productivity of lands causes of declining land productivity
- responsible for degradation up to 28% account for 28% of degradation
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response covers both visuals, identifies the dominant global causes, and accurately compares most regional figures, including Europe's overall lead and Oceania's absence of over-cultivation. Its main limitation is precision: the Oceania-to-North America overgrazing comparison is overstated, and several descriptions are awkward or loosely expressed. Prioritise exact ratios, consistent references to the 1990s, and clearer grouping of each region's principal cause.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response presents a clear overview and selects most key proportions accurately, though it overstates Oceania's overgrazing figure as almost ten times North America's.
Report that 11.3% is about seven and a half times 1.5%, and identify each region's leading cause alongside its total degradation.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response moves logically from the global chart to regional data and a conclusion, with clear paragraphing despite some repetitive contrast markers.
Group the table details by region or by cause consistently and avoid repeating conclusion material already covered by the overview.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient range for causes, proportions, and comparisons, but awkward collocations such as 'reason of,' 'degraded to the much extent,' and 'observed very less' recur.
Use natural forms such as 'cause of degradation,' 'was most severely affected,' 'accounted for,' and 'was considerably lower.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex comparisons are attempted and meaning remains clear, though article, agreement, punctuation, spacing, and sentence-boundary errors occur frequently.
Check complete clauses, articles before percentages and regions, and consistent past-tense forms throughout the report.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The pie chart below shows the main reasons why agricultural land becomes less productive. The table shows how these causes affected three regions of the world during the 1990s.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.