The chart below shows the amount spent on six consumer goods in four European countries.
Sample Response
The bar graph compares the spending on six consumer products by citizens in four European countries. Overall, British consumersOverall, British spent more on these products than citizens of the other three countriesthe citizens in other three countries did and their highest amount went on purchasing photographic films, toys and CDs.
As is observed, British consumers spentEnglish spent 155 thousand poundspound sterling on personal stereosfor purchasing personal stereos and the same amount for tennis racquets. French and German consumers spentFrench and German paid around 147 thousand pounds on stereosaround 147 thousand for stereos and Italian consumers spent a few thousand pounds moreItalians a few thousand more. Italians spent the same amount as British consumers didas English did for tennis racquetsbats, which was more than the amount spent by German and French consumersby Germans and French.
British consumers spentBritish disbursed the highest amount on photographic film and toysfor obtaining photographic films and toys and the respective figures werethese amounts stood at 170 and 167 thousand pounds. French people spent 5-6 thousand less on these two items but their spending was higher than the amount paid by Italians and Germans for these two items.
Spending on CDs by English was slightly lower than that of toys, 165 thousand and Germans spent the least amount on this product. Finally, British people spent 160 thousand for buying perfumes and it was 155, 150 and around 146 thousand by Italian, German and French respectively.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response gives a clear overview and covers all six products with a well-organised range of comparisons and figures. Its main weakness is precision: the gap for photographic film is understated, French toy spending is incorrectly placed above Italy's, and recurring demonym and sentence-form errors make some descriptions awkward; the priority is to verify each plotted value and express country comparisons in consistently accurate grammatical forms.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The overview is clear and all product categories are addressed with relevant data, although a few comparisons and numerical gaps are inaccurate.
Cross-check each bar before writing, especially the French-Italian toy comparison and the British-French gap for photographic film.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response follows a logical product-based progression, with clear paragraphing and cohesive movement from the overview through detailed comparisons.
Tighten sentence boundaries within the detail paragraphs so each comparison is presented as one clean, self-contained unit.
Lexical Resource
There is a good range of spending and comparison vocabulary, but some overformal choices and inaccurate labels, such as 'tennis bats', reduce precision.
Use natural task-specific terms consistently, including 'Britons', 'spent', 'photographic film', and 'tennis racquets'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied sentence structures convey the comparisons clearly, but missing articles, faulty nationality forms, ellipsis, and occasional run-on coordination recur.
Proofread nationality nouns and complete each clause with an explicit subject and verb, particularly when listing several countries and figures.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
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.