The table below highlights data on the number of travellers using three major German airports between 2007 and 2012.
Sample Response
The table summarises the number of passengers who travelled through three German airports betweenduring 2007 and 2012. As a general trend, Frankfurt Airportthe Frankfurt was the busiest airportair-terminal with the highest number of passengers while passenger numbers at Berlin Tegel Airportthe visitor number is the Berlin Tegel airport increased remarkably. As can be seen, Frankfurt Airportthe Frankfurt airport served more than 36 million passengers in 2007 whilewhen the number of travellers at Dusseldorf Airport wastravellers in the Dusseldorf airport was just above 27 million, almost 10 million higher than that of Berlin Tegel. Passengers in the passenger totals at these airports grew significantly over the next two yearsthese airports in the next two years significantly grew and the Dusseldorf airport served the highest number of passengerscommuters in 2009, approximately 48 million. Passengers in Berlin Tegel Airportthe Berlin Tegel more than doubled in just two years. Meanwhile, passenger numbers at Dusseldorf Airport declinedvisitors in the Dusseldorf airport declined but the airport servedbut served more than 45 million people in 2012, the second-highest figure for that airport during the periodhighest during the whole period. By contrastOn the contrary, Frankfurt airport received an increasing number of passengers each year before hitting the peak in 2012 with almost 70 million passengers. Interestingly, Berlin Tegel airport was preferred by the same number of air travellers in 2010, 2011 and 2012, which was 43.3 million, the highest growth compared to the initial passenger number in these airports.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response gives a clear overview and selects several useful comparisons, especially the steady rise at Frankfurt and Berlin Tegel's plateau. Its main weakness is precision: it incorrectly calls Dusseldorf's 2012 figure its period high and makes an ambiguous claim about Berlin Tegel having the greatest growth, while several awkward clauses blur otherwise accurate reporting. Prioritise checking every superlative and trend claim against the table, then express comparisons with cleaner grammatical structures.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response provides a clear overview and covers the main airport trends with relevant figures, but a few claims about peaks and growth are inaccurate or ambiguous.
Verify each highest, lowest, and growth comparison against all six years before finalising the report.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically from the overview to selected yearly comparisons, although the single-paragraph format and a few unsuitable connectors weaken the structure.
Separate the overview from two grouped detail paragraphs and use contrast markers only where the data genuinely contrast.
Lexical Resource
A reasonably varied range of trend and travel vocabulary communicates the data clearly, but several collocations and synonym choices are imprecise.
Prefer precise combinations such as passenger numbers rose, passenger traffic fell, and the airport handled travellers.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses both simple and complex sentences, but recurring article, agreement, and clause-control errors reduce accuracy.
Proofread airport names without unnecessary articles and ensure every subject agrees with its verb.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The table below highlights data on the number of travellers using three major German airports between 2007 and 2012.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.