The chart below shows the amount spent on six consumer goods in four European countries.
Sample Response
The bar chart compares the expenditure on different consumer goods by the people of four European countries, namelycountries; namely Britain, France, Italy and Germany.
At first glanceAt the first glance, The British spent more moneyBritish spent more money on consumer products while Germans spent the least.
It is worth noting thatnoticing that, The British spent £170,000British spent more than 170 thousand pound sterling for photographic film, which wasphotographic films which is the highest amount spent on any consumer goodgoods. The British alsoBritish also spent more than £160,000 onmore than 160 thousand for purchasing toysToys and CDs, which is higher than that spentof by any other nation. For perfumes, tennis racquets and personal stereos, they spent more than other nations as well. On the other hand, French people spent about £165,000 onaround 165 thousand for purchasing photographic films, which makes it the highest amount they spent on consumer goods. French citizens spent about 158 thousand on toys, whichtoys which is equal to the Italian figurea tie with Italians. For photographic films, toys and CDs, their spending was the second highesttheir spending totalled second highest among the given four nations. Finally, they spent less than 150 thousand on the remaining consumer goodson remaining consumer goods. Italian citizens spent around 150 thousand on personal stereos, tennis racquets and CDs while they spent about 5 thousand more on photographic films and toys. Finally, Germans spent lessspent the fewer amount on all consumer goodsin all consumer items than any other nation and their average spending was approximately £148,000145 thousand.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response clearly identifies the broad national pattern and supports it with a useful range of figures, while maintaining generally logical progression and adequate vocabulary. However, several comparisons are inaccurate or overgeneralised, especially the claims about France’s ranking, the German figures, and universal national leads; the priority is to verify each comparison against the chart and report ties and exceptions precisely.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and several relevant figures address the task, but inaccurate rankings, overstated leads, and the incorrect German average weaken precision.
Check every national comparison against the bars and explicitly report ties, such as Britain and Italy for tennis racquets, instead of making universal claims.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response progresses from an overview to country-based details and uses linking expressions effectively, although the single long detail paragraph is somewhat dense.
Divide the details into two comparison-focused paragraphs, such as higher-spending countries and lower-spending countries, to make the relationships easier to follow.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient range for describing expenditure and comparison, but awkward collocations such as “spent the fewer amount” and “totalled second highest” reduce precision.
Use standard comparative phrases such as “spent the least,” “recorded the second-highest figure,” and “expenditure on” consistently.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures conveys meaning clearly, though recurring article, agreement, punctuation, and comparative-form errors limit control.
Proofread nationality nouns, subject-verb agreement, and comparative structures, particularly forms such as “the British spent” and “a lower amount.”
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart below shows the amount spent on six consumer goods in four European countries.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.