The graph below shows CO 2 emissions for different forms of transport in the European Union. The Pie Chart shows the percentage of European Union funds being spent on different forms of transport.

IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 writing task image

Sample Response

The bar chart summaries how much C02 is discharged for one-kilometre travel by a passenger in different transportations and the pie chart shows the ratio of European Union’s expenditure for a variety of transport systems. Generally speaking, air travel emits the highest amount of Carbon Dioxide and EU spend the most on the road carriers. As can be seen, one-kilometre air travel for a passenger is responsible for roughly 375 grams of CO2 emission which is significantly higher than that of other modes of travel. A car passenger contributes to approximately 130 grams CO2 while this is nearly 70 grams for a bus commuter. Coaches, rails and maritime produces almost 50 grams of CO2 for one-kilometre passenger travel. According to the pie chart, more than half of the EU budget is spent on road transport system which is the highest. Nearly one-third of the budget is allocated for the rail transports while one-tenth goes on public transports. Despite emitting the highest CO2 per traveller, air transports receive only 1% of the EU’s budget. All other transport systems receive 1-2% of the EU budget each which is relatively much lower the spending on roads and railways.

IELTS Writing Correction

  • 1. Use the correct verb Original: summaries Suggested revision: summarises Why it matters: The sentence requires the third-person singular verb “summarises,” not the plural noun “summaries.”
  • 2. Correct the formula Original: C02 Suggested revision: CO2 Why it matters: The chemical formula uses the letter O rather than the numeral zero.
  • 3. Use natural terminology Original: different transportations Suggested revision: different forms of transport Why it matters: “Forms of transport” is the natural countable phrase in this context.
  • 4. Describe the distribution Original: the ratio of European Union’s expenditure Suggested revision: the distribution of European Union expenditure Why it matters: The pie chart presents how spending is distributed rather than a single ratio.
  • 5. Fix agreement Original: EU spend Suggested revision: the EU spends Why it matters: The singular institutional subject requires “spends” and normally takes the definite article.
  • 6. Name the category Original: carriers Suggested revision: transport Why it matters: The visual labels the spending category as roads, not road carriers.
  • 7. Use plural emissions Original: CO2 emission which Suggested revision: CO2 emissions, which Why it matters: The general quantity is expressed with plural “emissions,” and the non-defining clause needs a comma.
  • 8. Correct the collocation Original: contributes to approximately Suggested revision: is responsible for approximately Why it matters: A passenger is responsible for an amount of emissions rather than contributing to that amount.
  • 9. Add of Original: 130 grams CO2 Suggested revision: 130 grams of CO2 Why it matters: The measurement requires “of” before the substance being measured.
  • 10. Make comparison explicit Original: while this is nearly 70 grams Suggested revision: compared with nearly 70 grams Why it matters: The revision directly links the bus figure to the preceding car figure.
  • 11. Use category wording Original: road transport system Suggested revision: road transport Why it matters: The chart reports a spending category rather than one specific transport system.
  • 12. Correct preposition Original: for Suggested revision: to Why it matters: Money is allocated “to” a category or purpose.

Suggested Rewrites

  • summaries summarises
  • C02 CO2
  • different transportations different forms of transport
  • the ratio of European Union’s expenditure the distribution of European Union expenditure
  • EU spend the EU spends
  • carriers transport
Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 7.0

The response gives a clear overview and accurately covers the principal emissions values and budget shares, making the key contrast between air travel and road spending easy to follow. Its main weakness is recurrent grammatical and lexical awkwardness, especially agreement, plurals, and transport collocations. Prioritise editing sentences for subject–verb agreement and natural noun forms while retaining the strong data selection.

Band score breakdown

IELTS Writing Criteria Scores

Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.

TA

Task Achievement

8.0
Feedback

The response presents a clear overview and accurately selects the dominant figures and comparisons from both charts.

Next step

Name the minor funding categories more precisely instead of grouping them broadly as all other transport systems.

CC

Coherence and Cohesion

7.0
Feedback

Ideas follow a clear sequence from the overview to emissions and then funding, with effective basic linking despite the single paragraph.

Next step

Use separate detail paragraphs for the bar chart and pie chart to make the two datasets easier to navigate.

LR

Lexical Resource

6.5
Feedback

There is adequate range for emissions, proportions, and allocation, but inaccurate forms such as transportations and road carriers recur.

Next step

Prefer precise transport nouns and collocations, including modes of transport, road transport, and spending on railways.

GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

6.0
Feedback

The response uses varied sentence structures, but frequent agreement, article, plural, and preposition errors reduce control.

Next step

Systematically check subject–verb agreement and countability in phrases such as the EU spends and rail transport.

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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

The graph below shows CO 2 emissions for different forms of transport in the European Union. The Pie Chart shows the percentage of European Union funds being spent on different forms of transport.

IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 writing task image

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