The graphs below show how people in a European city reached their office and got back home in 1959 and 2009.
Sample Response
The pie charts delineate how citizens in a European city commuted to and from their offices in 1959 and 2009. Overall, more than half of the commutersoffice-goers walked in 1959 while car use increased significantly by 2009car use in 2009 significantly increased. In additionBesides, people travelled farthertravelled more distance in 2009 at a higher average speedat a faster speed. According to the illustration, more than half of the job holders walked to reach their office and get back home in 1959 while only a quarter of them did so in 2009. Bus travel accounted for 15%Bus commuters in this city accounted for 15% in 1959 while the figure was two percentage points lower five decades laterit was 2% less after 5 decades. The ratio of office executives (15%) who used trains in both years remained the same. One in ten commutersOne in ten office commuters drove cars in 1959 but five decades later,but after five decades the figure increased significantly to 35%their percentage increased significantly, 35% to be exact. The use of other forms of transportdifferent other transportations in 2009 was higher than 50 years earlierincreased than that of 50 years earlier. NotablyIt is worth noticing that the average speed and distance travelledspeed and average distance travelled by these commuters considerably increased in 2009 when a commuter travelled an average of 19 kilometres19 kilometres on an average in 42 minutes compared with averages of 3.5 kilometres and 17 minutescompared to their average 3.5-kilometre journey in 17 minutes in 1959.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response selects nearly all key information accurately, including the shift from walking to car use and the increases in average distance and journey time. Its main limitation is linguistic precision, with awkward phrases such as "increased than" and some overly specific labels for ordinary commuters. Prioritise natural comparative structures and exact nouns while preserving the strong overview and comprehensive coverage.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and accurate coverage of every transport category, distance and duration provide a comprehensive account of the visuals.
State the change in the "other" category precisely, from 5% to 12%, rather than describing it only as an increase.
Coherence and Cohesion
The report has clear progression from the overview through modal shares to journey statistics, despite being presented as one long paragraph.
Use separate overview and detail paragraphs so the transport proportions and journey metrics are easier to scan.
Lexical Resource
A flexible range of reporting and comparison vocabulary is used, but a few choices such as "office executives" and "transportations" are imprecise.
Prefer exact natural terms such as "commuters," "modes of transport" and "rose from 10% to 35%."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex comparative sentences are generally well controlled, with only occasional errors that do not impede meaning.
Refine comparative forms, replacing "increased than" with "was higher than" and "on an average" with "on average."
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The graphs below show how people in a European city reached their office and got back home in 1959 and 2009.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.