The pie charts below show the percentage of five kinds of books sold by a bookseller between 1972 and 2012.

Same questionCompare 2 different answers (Band 8)

Sample Response

1

The three pie charts compare the book sales acrossof five categories in the years 1972, 1992 and 2012. It is noticeable that the proportion of sales for adult fiction and children’s fiction saw a continued rise throughout the period shownin the whole period shown, while biography and other genres experienced a decrease. Books in the ‘Other’ category accounted for the largest share in 1972, but adult fiction overtook this categoryovertook them in the subsequent recorded years. In 1972, Adults' Fiction accounted foradults’ fiction took up 20% of books sold, before increasing to 25% in 1992 and accounting for the largest share. Surging to 45% in 2012, adults’ fiction remained the largest single category in book sales. The proportion of children’s fiction saw a more modest increasemilder growth, from 20% in 1972 to 22% in 1992, before climbing to 25% in 2012. Declines and fluctuationsDecline and fluctuation can be witnessed in the other categories. The share of other genres dropped from 25% in 1972 to 20% in 1992 and then tot0 12% in 2012, while biography sales also declined steadily from 20% to 15% and finally to 8%. Travel books, however, rose first from 15% to 18% in the first twenty years, then fell to 10% in 2012.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 8.0

The response presents a clear, accurate, and comprehensive overview of the data with well-structured key features. Data reporting is precisely aligned with the visual charts, supported by logical paragraphing and varied grammatical structures. To further enhance performance, eliminate minor typographical errors and polish prepositional phrasing when referring to category titles.

Band score breakdown

IELTS Writing Criteria Scores

TA

Task Achievement

8.0
Scoring rule

The main trends and key percentages are accurately identified, fully described, and effectively compared without any data errors.

Next step

Maintain this high standard by ensuring key overarching insights in the overview are expressed even more succinctly.

CC

Coherence and Cohesion

8.0
Scoring rule

Information is logically grouped by trend direction, creating a smooth and clear flow of data between paragraphs.

Next step

Vary cohesive markers slightly across paragraphs to avoid repeating simple time-sequence linkers.

LR

Lexical Resource

8.0
Scoring rule

A wide and precise range of data-description vocabulary is used effectively to highlight changes and comparisons.

Next step

Proofread carefully to prevent minor typographical mistakes, such as typing a zero instead of the letter o in prepositions.

GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

8.0
Scoring rule

A good variety of complex and participle structures are deployed with high grammatical accuracy throughout.

Next step

Ensure consistent and natural noun-adjective forms when repeating exact category titles.

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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

The pie charts below show the percentage of five kinds of books sold by a bookseller between 1972 and 2012.

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