The chart below shows the amount of money per week spent on fast foods in Britain. The graph shows the trends in consumption of fast foods.
Sample Response
The graphs present data on the amount of money spent by the British on fast food in 1990 and the consumption of three junk food items over 30 years. The expenditure is given for each person in a week in Pence while the consumption is presented in grammes per person. Generally speaking, hamburgers gained popularity over time while fish & chips started to be consumed by less percentage of British. As is presented in the bar graph, in 1990, British people in the high-income range spent more than 40 Pence in a week on hamburgers which was higher than that of other items. They spent only 16 pence/person on fish & chips while around 2 pence more on pizza. Again, the hamburger was the most popular item among the medium income class. They spent over 30 pence on this item while 5 Pence less on fish & chips, and just 11 Pence/person on pizza. Finally, among the low-income group, fish & chips was the most popular fast food item as they spend the highest money on this (17 Pence per week by an individual). Their expenditure on the pizza was only 6 Pence. According to the line graph, people ate fish & chips more than any other fast food in 1970. UK citizens, this year, devoured more than 300 grams of fish & chips while they consumed less than 100 grams of hamburgers and fish & chips. The average pizza consumption started growing and reached 300 grammes in 1990.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct the time span Original: 30 Suggested revision: 20 Why it matters: The line graph covers 1970 to 1990, a period of 20 years.
- 2. Use standard unit phrase Original: for each person in a week Suggested revision: per person per week Why it matters: The concise unit phrase matches the chart's measurement convention.
- 3. Report value precisely Original: more than 40 Pence Suggested revision: about 45 pence Why it matters: The high-income hamburger bar is approximately 45 pence per person per week.
- 4. Add relative-clause comma Original: hamburgers which Suggested revision: hamburgers, which Why it matters: The following which-clause comments on the whole spending figure and should be set off with a comma.
- 5. Align with the chart Original: 16 pence/person Suggested revision: about 17 pence per person Why it matters: The fish-and-chips bar for the high-income group is approximately 17 pence.
- 6. Use category plural Original: the hamburger was Suggested revision: hamburgers were Why it matters: The general food category should be expressed with a plural noun and verb.
- 7. Use chart category Original: medium income class Suggested revision: middle-income group Why it matters: This is the natural label for the chart's average-income category.
- 8. Give closer estimate Original: over 30 pence Suggested revision: about 33 pence Why it matters: The average-income hamburger bar stands at roughly 33 pence.
- 9. Correct the difference Original: 5 Pence less on fish & chips Suggested revision: about 8 pence less on fish and chips Why it matters: Average-income spending is about 33 pence on hamburgers and 25 pence on fish and chips.
- 10. Match the plotted value Original: 11 Pence/person Suggested revision: about 12 pence per person Why it matters: The average-income pizza bar is approximately 12 pence.
- 11. Keep past tense Original: spend Suggested revision: spent Why it matters: The description refers to expenditure in 1990 and should remain in the past tense.
- 12. Use natural quantity wording Original: the highest money on this Suggested revision: the most on it Why it matters: Spend the most on is the correct expression for the largest expenditure.
Suggested Rewrites
- 30 20
- for each person in a week per person per week
- more than 40 Pence about 45 pence
- hamburgers which hamburgers, which
- 16 pence/person about 17 pence per person
- the hamburger was hamburgers were
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response is strongest when comparing 1990 expenditure across income groups, where most figures and rankings are reported clearly. Its main limitation is the very incomplete treatment of the consumption graph: the dominant rise in hamburger intake is omitted, pizza is misidentified in one sentence, and the overview captures only part of the trend. Prioritise a two-graph overview and select accurate start-to-end comparisons for all three foods.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The expenditure chart is generally reported accurately, but the overview and consumption coverage omit major trends and include a mislabelled series.
Add the dramatic hamburger rise, the pizza increase, and the fish-and-chips decline with accurate endpoints and comparisons.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information follows a logical chart-by-chart sequence, although the single-paragraph presentation and some awkward reference chains reduce clarity.
Separate the introduction and overview from the two detail sections, and keep each series comparison in a clearly focused sentence.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a useful range of chart vocabulary, but several collocations and quantity phrases are imprecise or unnatural.
Use precise forms such as lower consumption, spent the most, grams per person, and average-income group.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures is attempted, but article, tense, comparison, and clause-control errors recur.
Check subject-verb agreement and build complete comparison clauses with consistent tense and accurate noun forms.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart below shows the amount of money per week spent on fast foods in Britain. The graph shows the trends in consumption of fast foods.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.