The chart below shows Morocco’s income from different economic sectors in 2003 as well as its income from fishing from 1982 to 2003.
Sample Response
The pie chart compares revenue earned from six economic sectors by Morocco in 2003 and the column graph gives data on annual income from fishing industry between 1982 and 2003. Overall, tourism, manufacturing and foreign remittance were three main sources of income for Morocco in 2003 and the highest revenue from fishing came in the year 2000. Getting back to the details, the highest revenue earning sector for Morocco was tourism that brought just over a quarter of total revenue in 2003. Manufacturing and foreign remittance comprised the second and third most important economic sectors for this country and brought 45% of the revenue. The lowest revenue came from agriculture which was only 2%. Fishing earned 13% of the total revenue which was just 1% less than the revenue earned from the petroleum sector. Based on the column graph, Morocco earned less than half a billion US dollar from fishing in 1982 and next year, this revenue surged to nearly 2 billion. The revenue continued to increase and in 1997 and almost touched 3 billion. The highest fish related income in Morocco came in the year 2000 and the revenue in this year from fishing was well over 4 billion USD. Afterwards, revenue dropped and in next two years remained stable at approximately 3.8 billion. In 2003, income from fishing significantly dropped and reached below 2 billion dollar.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add the article Original: from fishing industry Suggested revision: from the fishing industry Why it matters: A definite article is required when referring to this specific industry.
- 2. Hyphenate the modifier Original: revenue earning sector Suggested revision: revenue-earning sector Why it matters: The compound adjective before “sector” should be hyphenated for clarity.
- 3. Use a non-defining clause Original: tourism that brought Suggested revision: tourism, which brought Why it matters: The clause adds information about an already identified sector and should be non-defining.
- 4. Express the ranking clearly Original: comprised the second and third most important economic sectors Suggested revision: were the second- and third-largest sources of income Why it matters: “Comprised” does not naturally express the ranking of these two sectors.
- 5. Clarify the percentage Original: agriculture which was only 2% Suggested revision: agriculture, which accounted for only 2% Why it matters: The percentage describes agriculture’s share of revenue, so “accounted for” is required.
- 6. Use the plural unit Original: dollar Suggested revision: dollars Why it matters: A quantity greater than one requires the plural form “dollars.”
- 7. Correct the year Original: next year Suggested revision: in 1993 Why it matters: The next plotted observation after 1982 is 1993, not the following calendar year.
- 8. Use natural phrasing Original: fish related income Suggested revision: fishing income Why it matters: “Fishing income” is the concise standard expression for revenue from this sector.
- 9. Add the article Original: in next two years Suggested revision: over the next two years Why it matters: The fixed expression requires “the,” and “over” suits a two-year span.
- 10. Use concise attribution Original: six economic sectors by Morocco Suggested revision: six Moroccan economic sectors Why it matters: The revised phrase expresses the relationship more directly and naturally.
- 11. Name the chart naturally Original: column graph gives Suggested revision: bar chart gives Why it matters: “Bar chart” is the standard term for this visual format.
- 12. Match the sector label Original: manufacturing and foreign remittance were Suggested revision: manufacturing and workers’ remittances were Why it matters: This wording aligns the remittance category with the pie-chart label.
Suggested Rewrites
- from fishing industry from the fishing industry
- revenue earning sector revenue-earning sector
- tourism that brought tourism, which brought
- comprised the second and third most important economic sectors were the second- and third-largest sources of income
- agriculture which was only 2% agriculture, which accounted for only 2%
- dollar dollars
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response selects the most important features from both visuals, supports them with relevant figures, and uses a suitably varied reporting vocabulary. The principal limitation is occasional factual and grammatical imprecision, especially calling 1993 the next year after 1982 and using a few incomplete or awkward constructions. Prioritize exact time references and a final grammatical check while retaining the strong comparative coverage.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The main sector shares and fishing-income trend are accurately selected and well supported, with only a minor time-reference error.
State that the fishing figure rose from 1982 to 1993 rather than saying it increased in the next year.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically from the sector breakdown to the time series, although the single-block presentation is somewhat dense.
Separate the overview and the two visual datasets into distinct paragraphs for easier navigation.
Lexical Resource
A good range of reporting vocabulary conveys proportions and changes precisely, with a few awkward combinations.
Refine collocations such as 'fishing-industry income' and 'fishing-related revenue' while avoiding unnecessary repetition of 'revenue.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied complex structures are generally controlled, but several article, preposition, and sentence-completion errors remain.
Proofread constructions such as 'in the next two years' and remove the stray 'and' before 'almost touched.'
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart below shows Morocco’s income from different economic sectors in 2003 as well as its income from fishing from 1982 to 2003.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.