The graphs indicate the source of complaints about the Bank of America and the amount of time it takes to have the complaints resolved.
Sample Response
The graphs provide data on the ratio of objections received by the Bank of America divided into 6 categories (Public, Insurance companies, Media, Government agencies, Out of State, and Bank employees) and the time spent to process those complaints from the beginning to the final act. Overall, the highest percentage of complaints came from the publicthe mass people while the longest time required to process the complaints was six months in 2001. Those complaints were resolved in an average of four months in 2002promptly addressed in 2002. It can be clearly seen from the pie chart that more than 60% of complaintsmore than 60% complaints about the Bank of Americato Bank of America originated fromwere originated from ordinary people. 8% of complaintsthese were made by insurance companiesreported by the insurance companies while the media's share of complaintsmedia complaint ratio was only 3%very low, only 3%. Government agency’s complained one out of ten while bank-employers and out of state complaints comprised 5% of it. Complaints from other sources which are not included in the given six categories made up one-tenth of the total complaints. Turning to the bar chartNow turning to a more detailed analysis in the bar graph, in 2001, the average processing time was six months6 months was needed on average to process the complaints and reach final actionact against those. In addition, 2000 and the following yearsall previous and proceeding years displayed an average processing timewaiting period of 4 to 5 months.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response gives a clear overview of both visuals and accurately identifies the dominant public source, the 2001 peak, and the shorter processing time in 2002. Its main limitation is accuracy among the smaller complaint sources: out-of-state and employee complaints total 13%, not 5%, while ‘other’ sources account for 2%, not 10%. Prioritise checking every pie-slice label before combining or comparing categories.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The main features of both charts are identified, but several smaller complaint-source percentages are substantially misreported.
Copy each pie-chart value accurately and avoid combining categories unless their total has been calculated correctly.
Coherence and Cohesion
The report moves from an overview to pie-chart details and then processing times, though the single paragraph and compressed transitions limit clarity.
Use separate detail paragraphs for complaint sources and processing times, each beginning with its key comparison.
Lexical Resource
Some useful reporting vocabulary is present, but frequent inaccurate choices such as ‘objections’, ‘mass people’, and ‘final act’ reduce precision.
Use consistent terms from the task, including ‘complaints’, ‘members of the public’, ‘processing time’, and ‘final action’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning is generally recoverable, but errors with articles, possessives, passive forms, agreement, and noun phrases occur frequently.
Proofread each percentage sentence for a clear plural subject and accurate structure such as ‘X% of complaints came from’.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The graphs indicate the source of complaints about the Bank of America and the amount of time it takes to have the complaints resolved.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.