The charts below show the percentage of time younger and older people spend on various Internet activities in their free time (excluding email).
Sample Response
The pie charts illustrate the proportion of time people allocate toon different internet activities when they are free, divided into two groups: namely young adultsthat is youngsters (18–26 age group18-26 group) and older people (the 60–70 age group)the elderly people (60-70 age group). Overall, it is clear that the two age groups have different preferences forof internet activities.
First and foremost, the younger age group spends the largest share of their time on social networking (24%)a majority of their time on social networking (24%) compared to 21%only 8% of the time elderly people spend. The older people, however, spend most of their time making bookingson making bookings for cinema ticketsthe cinema ticket or travel (2529%) which is five timesalmost fourfold then the time youngsters spend on this activitystuff. Young people tend to access music or filmsaccess to music or films more than older people (21% and 15%, respectivelyjust over one-fifth and 17% respectively).
In addition, young people use three times more in playing online games than the other age group (18% and 6% correspondingly). Interestingly, both age groupsboth the age groups spend approximately the same time onfor activities like doing research related to health issuesthe health issue and making purchases online, that is 22% and 12%, respectively, for older people20% and 14% for the elderly people.
Why this response received Band 5.5
The response is clearly organised and uses a reasonable range of comparison language, so the main trends are easy to follow. Its principal weakness is data accuracy: several figures differ from the charts, especially older people's social networking, bookings, games, research, and purchases, while the overview is too general. Prioritise identifying the dominant and shared patterns correctly, then verify every percentage before writing comparisons.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response addresses all activity categories, but its overview lacks specific key trends and many figures or comparisons are inaccurate.
State the main contrasts and similarities in the overview, then check each percentage against the charts before reporting it.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response progresses logically from an overview to grouped comparisons, although some linking is mechanical and the final paragraph becomes compressed.
Group the data around two or three clear comparison patterns and use simpler transitions between them.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient vocabulary for describing proportions and comparisons, but several collocations are awkward or imprecise.
Use natural forms such as spend time playing, access music or films, and five times as much rather than informal or inaccurate phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the comparisons, but recurring errors in articles, prepositions, agreement, and comparison forms reduce accuracy.
Practise accurate comparative structures and proofread noun phrases and prepositions in every data sentence.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The charts below show the percentage of time younger and older people spend on various Internet activities in their free time (excluding email).
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.