The pie chart below shows the main reasons why agricultural land becomes less productive. The table shows how these causes affected three regions of the world during the 1990s.

Same questionCompare 5 different answers (Band 5–8)

Sample Response

1

The pie chart and tabletwo charts illustrate the major causes of global land degradation and compare their effects onto North America, Europe and Oceania during the 1990s.

2

It is noticeable that over-grazing was the main cause oftook the biggest responsibility in worldwide land degradation, while deforestationthe deforestation and over-cultivation constituted moderately smaller shares. Europe suffered most from land degradation among the three regions shown, and Deletesurprisingly, Oceania's land degradation had no impact fromhas no relation with over-cultivation.

3

During the 1990s, 35% of land degradation throughout the world was caused by over-grazinggazing. Specifically, it led to 11.3% of the land in Oceania degraded, followed by 5.5% of land5.5% land in Europe and 1.5% in North America. The second largest contributor to this global phenomenon was deforestation, making up 30%, which made 9.8% of European land degraded, and brought the damage to 1.7% of land in Oceania and 0.2% of land in North America.

4

Meanwhile, 28% of worldwide land degradation was caused bywas to blame for over-cultivation, compared with other reasons accounting for 7% in total. Considering its effect onto the three regions given, 7.7% of land in Europe and 3.3% of land in North America became less productive, but it did notdidn't affect the land in Oceania at all. OverallFinally, Europe had the most severe rate of land degradationdegrading problem in the 1990s (23% total land degraded23% degradation), while Oceania and North America suffered less, the figures for which were 13% and 5% respectively.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 7.0

The report effectively highlights key features from both the pie chart and the table while presenting a clear, logical structure. The analysis is well-supported by accurate data, though phrasing choices occasionally introduce minor grammatical awkwardness. To improve, refine preposition usage and ensure strict accuracy when interpreting category labels.

Band score breakdown

IELTS Writing Criteria Scores

TA

Task Achievement

7.0
Scoring rule

All main features and comparative data from both visual inputs are accurately presented alongside a clear overview.

Next step

Ensure precision in reporting data descriptions, such as specifying that zero percent of land was degraded by over-cultivation rather than stating it had no relation.

CC

Coherence and Cohesion

7.0
Scoring rule

The response is organized logically into distinct thematic paragraphs with clear overall progression.

Next step

Improve sentence-to-sentence transitions in the body paragraphs to avoid repetitive structures when listing regional figures.

LR

Lexical Resource

7.0
Scoring rule

A good variety of vocabulary is used flexibly to describe percentages, causes, and trends.

Next step

Refine idiomatic expressions and fixed collocations to avoid slightly imprecise phrasing like 'was to blame for' when referring to data trends.

GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

7.0
Scoring rule

A good range of complex structures is produced with generally good grammatical control across the text.

Next step

Pay attention to clause boundary punctuation and passive voice constructions to prevent occasional comma splices and awkward phrasing.

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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

The pie chart below shows the main reasons why agricultural land becomes less productive. The table shows how these causes affected three regions of the world during the 1990s.

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