The graph below shows the effects of different brands of fertilizer on bean plant growth.
Sample Response
The bar graph illustrates the influence of five kinds of fertilizers on the height in cm of bean plants. Overall, Granny’s bloomers produced the highest number of bean plants, while Miracle Gro developed the shortest crop.
In a more detailed analysis, Granny’s bloomers and K mark fertilizers caused beans to grow above 20cm, although the effect of Granny bloomers was greater than that of K mark. The former made it grow up over 25cm, whereas the latter brought about a growth slightly above 20cm.
On the other hand, other plant foods, such as Job’s house spikers, No fertilizer and Miracle-Gro, did not make it develop more than 15cm. Job’s house plant spikers produced exactly 15cm tall beans plant. However, it is insignificantly greater than the one gotten from No fertilizer. Furthermore, Miracle-Gro had the minimum effect among all. A plant of slightly more than 5cm developed.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Name the treatments accurately Original: five kinds of fertilizers Suggested revision: five fertilizer treatments Why it matters: One category uses no fertilizer, so treatments is more accurate than kinds of fertilizers.
- 2. State the measure clearly Original: height in cm of bean plants Suggested revision: average height of bean plants in centimetres Why it matters: The revised phrase clearly identifies the average measurement and its unit.
- 3. Use exact treatment names Original: Granny’s bloomers and K mark fertilizers Suggested revision: Granny’s Bloomers and K Mark Fertilizer Why it matters: The chart labels these treatments with these names and capitalisation.
- 4. Fix measurement phrasing Original: grow above 20cm Suggested revision: grow to over 20 cm Why it matters: Grow to is the natural construction for reporting a final height.
- 5. Correct the treatment name Original: effect of Granny bloomers Suggested revision: effect of Granny’s Bloomers Why it matters: The treatment name needs its possessive marker and original capitalization.
- 6. Use the full label Original: greater than that of K mark Suggested revision: greater than that of K Mark Fertilizer Why it matters: The full treatment name makes the comparison precise.
- 7. Report the average height Original: brought about a growth slightly above 20cm Suggested revision: produced an average height of about 22 cm Why it matters: The chart shows an average plant height of approximately 22 cm for K Mark Fertilizer.
- 8. Use a grouping linker Original: On the other hand Suggested revision: By comparison Why it matters: This paragraph groups the three lower values rather than presenting a direct contradiction.
- 9. Correct the treatment name Original: Job’s house spikers Suggested revision: Job’s House Plant Spikers Why it matters: The chart uses the full label Job's House Plant Spikers.
- 10. Match the chart labels Original: No fertilizer and Miracle-Gro Suggested revision: no fertilizer and Miracle Gro Why it matters: The generic category should be lowercase in the sentence, and the chart spells Miracle Gro without a hyphen.
- 11. Use natural result wording Original: did not make it develop more than 15cm Suggested revision: resulted in average heights of no more than 15 cm Why it matters: The revised phrase accurately and grammatically describes the measured outcomes.
- 12. Fix the noun phrase Original: exactly 15cm tall beans plant Suggested revision: bean plants exactly 15 cm tall Why it matters: Bean should be singular as a noun modifier, while plants should be plural for the average group.
Suggested Rewrites
- five kinds of fertilizers five fertilizer treatments
- height in cm of bean plants average height of bean plants in centimetres
- Granny’s bloomers and K mark fertilizers Granny’s Bloomers and K Mark Fertilizer
- grow above 20cm grow to over 20 cm
- effect of Granny bloomers effect of Granny’s Bloomers
- greater than that of K mark greater than that of K Mark Fertilizer
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response is clearly organised, selects all five categories, and reports the approximate bar heights with effective grouping and comparisons. The main limitation is imprecise wording about plant numbers rather than average height, alongside several awkward grammatical constructions that blur otherwise accurate observations. Focus first on maintaining the measured variable throughout, then refine noun phrases and comparison structures for greater clarity and naturalness.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All categories and the main ranking are covered with largely accurate approximate values, though the overview sometimes confuses plant height with the number of plants.
State consistently that the chart measures average height and give the approximate values of 27, 22, 15, 13, and 6 centimetres.
Coherence and Cohesion
The overview and two logically grouped detail paragraphs create clear progression, with comparisons easy to follow despite a few vague references.
Make pronoun references explicit and connect the two lower middle values directly instead of referring vaguely to the one.
Lexical Resource
A reasonably varied descriptive vocabulary supports comparison, but several collocations and word choices, including shortest crop and insignificantly greater, are unnatural.
Use precise combinations such as shortest plants, average height, marginally taller, and produced growth of approximately 15 centimetres.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied sentence forms with generally clear meaning, although agreement, article, noun-form, and reference errors appear repeatedly.
Revise phrases such as a 15-centimetre-tall bean plant and avoid unclear constructions such as made it grow up or a plant developed.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The graph below shows the effects of different brands of fertilizer on bean plant growth.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.