The pie chart shows average monthly student expenditure in the UK in 2016. The bar chart shows sources of student income in the same year.
Sample Response
The pie chart illustrates the average monthly student spending in the UK in 2016. The bar chart compares the sources of student income in the same year.
Overall, the highest monthly expenditure is rent. This is followed byContinued by food while the remaining amount is divided among other costs.and the rest fairly divided with other costs. Student incomesincome are supported by mostly student loans, followed byfollowed up with family then a part-time job. The lowest income sourcesmethod are from grants and funding.
The monthly student expenditure accounting for the largest sharecarrying the burden is rent with a cost of 385 poundseuros, followed by food, which costs £124, roughly a third of the rent.followed up with food with a price of just third compared to rent costing 124 euros. Other miscellaneous spending comes from socialising, travel, bills and other. These expensesspendings range from 52 to 9151 - 91 pounds, summing up to nearly half of the total expenditure.euros summing up to a third of the pie chart.
Sources of student income are primarily from student loans with around 81%. The difference between percentages of the runner-up, family support,runner-up family and a part-time job is a mere 1%.are mere 1%. In contrast, savings, bank overdrafts, grants and funding are lower with around 40% or below.around 40% and above.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response successfully identifies the main trends and structures the comparison logically, but it is held back by several data inaccuracies, such as using the wrong currency symbol and miscalculating percentage differences. To improve, ensure all units of measurement are transcribed correctly and double-check numerical comparisons against the visual data. Additionally, addressing frequent subject-verb agreement errors will significantly boost grammatical accuracy.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response includes a clear overview and covers the main features, but it contains key data inaccuracies, such as using euros instead of pounds and misstating the percentage difference between family support and part-time work.
Carefully verify all units of measurement and numerical values against the charts before writing to ensure absolute data accuracy.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay is logically organized into clear paragraphs for expenditure and income, though some cohesive transitions feel slightly mechanical.
Vary your linking phrases and avoid starting sentences with incomplete structures like 'Continued by'.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, though some word choices and collocations are slightly awkward, such as 'expenditure carrying the burden'.
Focus on using more natural academic collocations, such as 'the largest expense' or 'the primary source of income'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
While there is a mix of simple and complex sentences, frequent subject-verb agreement errors (e.g., 'student income are', 'method are', 'difference... are') reduce grammatical control.
Pay close attention to subject-verb agreement, ensuring that singular nouns like 'income', 'method', and 'difference' are paired with singular verbs.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The pie chart shows average monthly student expenditure in the UK in 2016. The bar chart shows sources of student income in the same year.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.