The bar chart below shows the percentage of people living alone in five different age groups in the USA between 1850 and 2000.
Sample Response
The bar chart illustrates the proportion of people who lived by themselves in the USA, in five different age groups (17-26, 27-36, 37-46, 47-54, and 55-64), in 1850, 1900, 1950 and 2000.
Overall, the percentage of Americans aged 55-64 who lived alone were highest in all measured years. In addition, figures for all age groups increased over the period.
The percentages of those living alone aged 37-46, 47-54, and 55-64 all followed similar trends over the measured period. There were significant increases in these figures beginning at around 2%, 2% and approximately 3% in 1850, and ending at around 7%, 13% and 17% respectively, in 2000.
Additionally, Americans aged 27-36 did not start living alone until 1900, beginning at just over 2%, and rising to around 8% in 2000. Furthermore, Americans aged 17-26 also did not start to live by themselves until around 1950, beginning at around 2% and increasing to approximately 5% in 2000.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Clarify grouping Original: USA, in five different age groups Suggested revision: USA across five different age groups Why it matters: The preposition makes the grouping relationship clearer and removes the awkward interruption.
- 2. Fix subject agreement Original: were Suggested revision: was Why it matters: The singular subject percentage requires the singular verb was.
- 3. Avoid overgeneralising Original: similar Suggested revision: upward Why it matters: All three figures rose, but the timing and scale of their increases differed substantially.
- 4. Avoid unsupported inference Original: did not start living alone until 1900 Suggested revision: were first recorded as living alone in 1900 Why it matters: The absence of an earlier bar shows no recorded percentage, not that nobody lived alone.
- 5. Report the chart only Original: did not start to live by themselves until around 1950 Suggested revision: were first recorded as living alone in 1950 Why it matters: The chart supports the first recorded figure in 1950 rather than a claim about when the behaviour began.
- 6. Sentence rewrite Original: There were significant increases in these figures beginning at around 2%, 2% and approximately 3% in 1850, and ending at around 7%, 13% and 17% respectively, in 2000. Suggested revision: These figures rose from approximately 2.5%, 2.5% and 3% in 1850 to around 7%, 13% and 17%, respectively, in 2000. Why it matters: The rewrite creates a complete comparison and reports the approximate starting values more accurately.
- 7. Highlight the strongest rise Suggested revision: Add that the oldest group experienced the largest overall increase as well as remaining the highest. Why it matters: This would make the overview distinguish the most prominent change in the chart.
- 8. Compare younger groups Suggested revision: After reporting the two younger groups, directly compare their 2000 figures of about 8% and 5%. Why it matters: A direct comparison would synthesise the two series instead of describing each one separately.
Suggested Rewrites
- USA, in five different age groups USA across five different age groups
- were was
- similar upward
- did not start living alone until 1900 were first recorded as living alone in 1900
- did not start to live by themselves until around 1950 were first recorded as living alone in 1950
- There were significant increases in these figures beginning at around 2%, 2% and approximately 3% in 1850, and ending at around 7%, 13% and 17% respectively, in 2000. These figures rose from approximately 2.5%, 2.5% and 3% in 1850 to around 7%, 13% and 17%, respectively, in 2000.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response is well organised, identifies the oldest group as consistently highest, and accurately describes the overall rise across age groups with appropriate supporting figures. The main limitation is that the intermediate years receive little numerical detail, which makes the development between the starting and ending points less fully illustrated. Add one focused comparison using the 1900 and 1950 values, and correct the few agreement and punctuation slips.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response gives an accurate overview and selects relevant, correct figures for all five age groups, though intermediate-year detail is limited.
Include one concise comparison of the 1900 and 1950 values to show how the trends developed before 2000.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is logically grouped by age bands, and the progression from overview to supporting details is easy to follow.
Use linking phrases selectively so the final paragraph remains concise and the comparisons carry the progression.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is accurate and appropriate for describing proportions and changes, with only minor repetition of age-group wording.
Vary repeated expressions such as living alone while preserving the chart’s precise meaning.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a good range of controlled sentence structures, with only a few minor agreement and punctuation errors.
Correct subject-verb agreement in the overview and remove unnecessary commas before participle phrases.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The bar chart below shows the percentage of people living alone in five different age groups in the USA between 1850 and 2000.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.