The bar chart gives information about the number of car journeys into the city centre made by residents and non-residents.
Sample Response
The bar chart illustrates the number of car journeys into the city centre made by residents and non-residents from 1996 to 2005. It is noticeable that non-residents' car journeys experienced a steep decline after Westgate Street and Park Lane were closed to traffic, while the figure for residents fell overall around the two interventions. In 1996, residents made nearly 10000 car journeys into the city centre, which was almost twice the figure for non-residents, at 5000. Since then, residents' car trips remained relatively stable untiluntill a drastic drop to 5000 in 2000 after the introduction of parking meters into the city centreinto city centre. By contrast, non-residents saw a steady increase to around 8000 during the same period and suffered little influence of sliding from that event. From 2000 to 2002, both categories remainedkept stable, with the figure for non-residents, roughly 8000, always8000 always higher than that of residents which was about 5000. However, after Westgate Street and Park Lane were closed to traffic in early 2003, non-residents' car journeys more than halved to 3000 and rose steadily to nearly 5000slowly recovered to nearly 5000 through a steady rise. At the same time, the figure for residentsresident also dropped in 2003 by about 1000 and hovered between 3500 and 4000 over the following two years.remained stable in the following two years.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response effectively highlights key trends, comparative data points, and the impact of traffic interventions in a clear, well-structured report. The main limitation lies in minor awkward collocations and small grammatical inaccuracies, such as missing articles and spelling slips. Refining word choice and polishing sentence mechanics will help elevate the description to an even higher standard.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response presents a clear overview and accurately details the trends and key intervention points for both categories.
Ensure all minor data nuances are described with absolute precision without relying on slightly vague summary statements.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is logically sequenced chronologically and cohesive linkers are used effectively to show contrast and progression.
Vary cohesive transitions further to avoid repetitive sentence openers like 'In [year]' or 'From [year] to [year]'.
Lexical Resource
A good variety of task-appropriate vocabulary is used to describe changes, though occasional awkward phrasing occurs.
Refine awkward collocations such as 'suffered little influence of sliding' to produce more natural, idiomatic phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A good range of complex sentence structures is demonstrated with generally strong grammatical control throughout.
Check for minor errors in article usage, spelling, and noun-number agreement, such as 'into city centre' and 'figure for resident'.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The bar chart gives information about the number of car journeys into the city centre made by residents and non-residents.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.