The pie charts below show units of electricity production by fuel source in Australia and France in 1980 and 2000.
Sample Response
The pie charts show data on electricity productionthe electricity production from fuel sources in Australia and in France in 1980 and 2000.
As is observed from the pie charts, coal was the main source for electricity production in Australia while France used the nuclear power more in recent years to produce their electricity demand. According to the given data, Australia produced 100 units of electricity in 1980 and 170 units in 2000 while the production in France was 90 units and it doubled in the year 2000. In Australia, coal was the main source of electricity production and half of the total electricity produced came from coal in 1980. Natural gas and hydropower each contributedcontributed of producing 20 units of electricity while the remaining 10 units were producedwhile remaining 10 units was produced from oil. Reliance on coalThe dependency on coal increased in 2000 for electricity production while oil and natural gasgases were used only minimallyvery minimally used for electricity production. Nuclear power was not used in Australia to produce electricityas a source for producing electricity. By contrastOn the contrary, in France, natural gas and coal together produced just over half of the electricityhalf of the electricity in 1980. The use of nuclear power increased significantly in France in 2000 amounting to 126 unitsamounting 126 units that yearin this year compared with 15 unitscompared to the 15 units 20 years earlierback.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response’s strongest feature is its relevant overview, supported by accurate totals and several well-chosen comparisons about coal in Australia and nuclear power in France. Its main limitation is selective detail: several important category values and changes, especially in 2000, are described vaguely or omitted, while frequent awkward phrasing reduces precision. Prioritise adding quantified cross-year comparisons for each country and then edit recurring article, agreement, and collocation errors.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview identifies the dominant sources, and the response accurately reports totals and several major changes, though coverage of supporting figures is selective.
Add direct, quantified comparisons for the omitted 2000 categories, particularly hydropower in Australia and coal, oil, gas, and hydropower in France.
Coherence and Cohesion
The report progresses from an overview to Australia and then France, but presenting almost all details in one paragraph weakens organisation.
Separate the overview and each country’s details into clear paragraphs, using transitions only where they clarify a comparison.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is sufficiently varied for the topic, but several collocations and word forms, including expressions about producing demand and contributing, are unnatural.
Use precise chart-reporting combinations such as ‘met electricity demand’, ‘contributed 20 units’, and ‘reliance on coal’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures conveys meaning clearly, although article, agreement, plural, and preposition errors recur.
Edit systematically for articles and subject–verb agreement, especially around singular quantities and uncountable fuel-source nouns.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The pie charts below show units of electricity production by fuel source in Australia and France in 1980 and 2000.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.