The charts below show local government expenditure in 2010 and 2015.
Sample Response
The charts show the percentage breakdown of government spending across nine categories in 2010 and 2015. Over the five-year period, there were significant changes in expenditure.
In both years, the four largest areas of government expenditure were: education, healthcare, pensions, and defence, with education taking the largest share (24% in 2010 and 21% in 2015). The smallest areas of expenditure were transport, culture and leisure and “other”. Interest on borrowing and spending on welfare lay in between.
Interestingly, between 2010 and 2015, spending on all four of the largest areas had dropped, with the exception of pensions, which remained the same at 19%. Spending on transport and culture and leisure also fell significantly, with the transport budget declining by two thirds. On the other hand, spending on welfare and interest on government borrowing rose markedly, with the latter doubling over the five-year period to 10%.
Overall, the charts indicate that the government has had to cut expenditure in most areas in order to fund the cost of borrowing and welfare.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Remove unnecessary colon Original: were: Suggested revision: were Why it matters: A colon should not separate the linking verb from its subject complement.
- 2. Clarify the category list Original: transport, culture and leisure and “other” Suggested revision: transport, culture and leisure, and “other” Why it matters: The added comma makes the three separate categories unambiguous.
- 3. Use simple past Original: had dropped Suggested revision: dropped Why it matters: The simple past is appropriate for the completed change between two stated past years.
- 4. Name the category directly Original: the latter Suggested revision: interest on borrowing Why it matters: Naming the category removes any possible ambiguity in a sentence containing two rising items.
- 5. Sentence rewrite Original: Interest on borrowing and spending on welfare lay in between. Suggested revision: Welfare and interest on borrowing occupied the middle positions among the nine categories. Why it matters: This wording makes the intended ranking comparison more explicit.
- 6. Sentence rewrite Original: Overall, the charts indicate that the government has had to cut expenditure in most areas in order to fund the cost of borrowing and welfare. Suggested revision: Overall, expenditure fell in most categories, while the shares allocated to welfare and interest on borrowing increased. Why it matters: The charts show changing proportions but do not establish that cuts were made in order to fund other categories.
- 7. Make the overview specific Suggested revision: Summarise the broad fall across most categories and the contrasting rises in welfare and borrowing interest. Why it matters: Significant changes is too general to identify the main pattern visible across the two charts.
- 8. Quantify both major rises Suggested revision: Support the comparison by giving the start and end shares for welfare and interest on borrowing. Why it matters: These two increases are among the most prominent changes, but only one endpoint is currently reported.
Suggested Rewrites
- were: were
- transport, culture and leisure and “other” transport, culture and leisure, and “other”
- had dropped dropped
- the latter interest on borrowing
- Interest on borrowing and spending on welfare lay in between. Welfare and interest on borrowing occupied the middle positions among the nine categories.
- Overall, the charts indicate that the government has had to cut expenditure in most areas in order to fund the cost of borrowing and welfare. Overall, expenditure fell in most categories, while the shares allocated to welfare and interest on borrowing increased.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response selects the most important comparisons efficiently, reports the principal figures accurately, and maintains clear progression with precise, varied language. The only notable weakness is the concluding claim that cuts were made to fund borrowing and welfare, since the charts show proportions but do not establish causation. Replace that inference with a neutral overview of the shift toward welfare and interest, while retaining the concise comparative detail.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response accurately identifies the largest and smallest categories and the main changes, but its final causal explanation is unsupported by the charts.
Conclude objectively that most categories declined while welfare and borrowing interest gained share, without claiming why the changes occurred.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is sequenced clearly from category rankings to changes over time, with cohesive devices used naturally and efficiently.
For an even tighter progression, place the objective overview immediately after the introduction and reserve the final paragraph for supporting comparisons.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is precise, varied and well suited to proportional comparisons, with natural expressions for rises, falls and relative size.
Maintain this control while choosing neutral wording that separates observable chart data from interpretation.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of sentence structures is used accurately, and the response is virtually error-free throughout.
Prefer the simple past over the past perfect when directly describing changes between the two chart years.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The charts below show local government expenditure in 2010 and 2015.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.