The table below gives information about changes in modes of travel in England between 1985 and 2000.
Sample Response
The tabletable data delineates how the travel patternsvehicle preferences of British citizens changed over time by comparing the average distance an English person travelledaverage distance an English travelled using different modes of transportcarriers in 1985 and 2000.
Overall, cars were British citizens' primary mode of transportation and taxis were the least-used mode of traveltaxi was the least used mode of travel for them in the period showngiven time period. The data show that an English person travelledAs the data suggests, an English travelled more than 6,400 miles on average in 2000, whichin 2000 which was almost 36% higher than the distance travelled in 1985. Car use accounted for most of this totalpredominated this total travel as more than 4,800 miles out of 6,400 in 2000 were travelled by carwere crossed using automobiles and a similar pattern was observeda similar trend could be observed in 1985. The use of personal cars, Deletein truth, increased over time. Reliance on buses was higher than on train and bicycle use. Despite an average of 255 miles walking by a Brit in 1985, it decreased after 15 years. Moreover, the taxi was perhaps the least preferred mode of commuting as only 13 miles were travelled by British people using taxisby British using it in 1985, which, despite an increase in 2000, was below 50 miles. Train travel increasedhiked in 2000 while distance travelled by British in local buses dropped. All other modes of transportAll other transportations contributed to 585 miles of travel by a Brit in 2000, an increase from 450 miles in 1985an increase than that of 1985.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response’s strongest feature is its accurate coverage of the dominant role of cars, the overall increase in distance travelled, and most category changes. Its main limitation is precision: several modes are discussed vaguely, bus types are conflated, and bicycle and long-distance-bus changes are not clearly quantified. Prioritise grouping rising and falling modes and supporting each comparison with the exact 1985 and 2000 figures.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and accurate totals highlight the dominance of cars and the overall rise, while most individual changes are also identified.
Distinguish local from long-distance buses and add the omitted bicycle and long-distance-bus figures to complete the comparison.
Coherence and Cohesion
The report moves from overall patterns to individual modes, but almost all details occupy one paragraph and the ordering of categories is somewhat loose.
Group modes that increased separately from those that decreased, with the overview in its own paragraph.
Lexical Resource
A reasonably broad transport vocabulary is used, but frequent unnatural choices such as ‘modes of carriers’, ‘miles were crossed’, and ‘train travel hiked’ reduce precision.
Use standard statistical combinations such as ‘modes of transport’, ‘miles were travelled’, and ‘rail travel increased’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response attempts varied complex structures, though recurring article, nationality, comparative, and clause-construction errors remain noticeable.
Use ‘an English person’ or ‘a Briton’ consistently and review comparative forms such as ‘an increase from’ or ‘higher than’.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The table below gives information about changes in modes of travel in England between 1985 and 2000.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.