The chart below shows the number of car trips taken by men and women for different purposes per day in a European city.
Sample Response
The bar chart illustrates how many car trips are made per day by males and females for various reasons in a European city.
Overall, the most number of trips by car for both men and women are made for commuting to and from work and for shopping. In contrast, the least number of trips made by both genders is for eating out.
In terms of males, about 180 trips are made for travelling to and from work, compared to approximately 140 trips per day for shopping. In contrast, only 20 trips are for visiting friends and 15 trips for eating out. The number of car trips made for taking children to school is around 130 per day, which is double that for entertainment purposes, at 65 per day.
Regarding women, the largest number of trips are made for shopping, at 150, followed by commuting to work, at 130, and taking children to school, at 90. Women make about 50 trips for entertainment purposes, while meeting friends and eating out only make up 25 and 20 trips respectively.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use task wording Original: males and females Suggested revision: men and women Why it matters: The task and chart use the more natural labels men and women.
- 2. Use precise chart term Original: reasons Suggested revision: purposes Why it matters: Purposes more precisely describes the chart's activity categories.
- 3. Fix quantity expression Original: the most number of trips Suggested revision: the largest numbers of trips Why it matters: Largest numbers is the correct comparative form when referring separately to both genders.
- 4. Fix comparison and agreement Original: the least number of trips made by both genders is Suggested revision: the fewest trips by both men and women are Why it matters: The revision uses the correct superlative and agrees with the plural subject.
- 5. Use concise group label Original: In terms of males Suggested revision: For men Why it matters: This is a clearer and more natural way to introduce the male figures.
- 6. Fix purpose construction Original: trips are for visiting friends Suggested revision: trips are made to visit friends Why it matters: The infinitive correctly expresses the purpose of the trips.
- 7. Use natural purpose phrase Original: made for taking children Suggested revision: made to take children Why it matters: The infinitive gives a more natural description of trip purpose.
- 8. Fix subject agreement Original: are Suggested revision: is Why it matters: The singular head noun number requires the singular verb is.
- 9. Sentence rewrite Original: Women make about 50 trips for entertainment purposes, while meeting friends and eating out only make up 25 and 20 trips respectively. Suggested revision: Women make about 50 trips for entertainment, 25 to meet friends and 20 to eat out. Why it matters: The rewrite gives all three purposes parallel grammatical structure without treating activities as the agents making trips.
- 10. Clarify gender contrast Suggested revision: State that work is the leading purpose for men, whereas shopping is the leading purpose for women. Why it matters: This contrast is a more precise summary of the chart's two highest figures.
Suggested Rewrites
- males and females men and women
- reasons purposes
- the most number of trips the largest numbers of trips
- the least number of trips made by both genders is the fewest trips by both men and women are
- In terms of males For men
- trips are for visiting friends trips are made to visit friends
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response is highly effective in selecting and accurately reporting the chart's key patterns and all twelve values, with a clear gender-based structure. The main limitation is a small cluster of awkward quantity expressions and agreement errors. Refine phrases such as the highest number and ensure singular quantity subjects take singular verbs to make an otherwise precise report more polished.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The overview highlights the dominant and least common purposes, and the body accurately reports every value with useful comparisons.
Add one more direct cross-gender comparison, such as the marked difference in work or school trips, to sharpen the analysis.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is organised into a clear introduction, overview, and separate male and female detail paragraphs with smooth progression.
Vary the links between figures slightly so repeated contrast and sequencing patterns remain unobtrusive.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and mostly precise for purposes, quantities, and comparisons, with only occasional awkward combinations.
Replace expressions such as most number and trips make up with the highest number and accounted for.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a good range of complex comparison structures accurately, though several number-related subject-verb agreement errors remain.
Check agreement after singular heads such as number, using the largest number is rather than are.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart below shows the number of car trips taken by men and women for different purposes per day in a European city.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.