The table below shows personal saving as a percentage of personal income for selected countries in 1970, 1990 and 2010.
Sample Response
The tableThe table data gives information on the savings percentagespercentages of savings of personal incomefrom the personal income of people in seven different countries in three years:three different years - 1990, 2000 and 2010. OverallAs is obvious, JapaneseJapanse, French and Italian citizens savedamassed the highest proportionspercentages of their income and the savings percentages decreased over timeover the time. Now, turning to the detailsturning back to the details, the percentages of income devoted to savings by the people in these countries considerably decreased in 2010 compared with those in 1990compared to that of 1990 except in the UK. The highest savings were done by the Italians in 1990 and the percentage of their savings was almost 30 which reduced to only about 17 percent in 2000 and 11.4 in 2010. French and Japanese citizensFrench and Japanese also saved over 17% of their income in 1990 which became 13.6% in 2010after 20 years in both countriesfor both of these citizens. Interestingly, Canada in the only country where people managed to almost double their savings in 2000 than that of ten years earlier but after further ten years, their savings ration became very little and lower than the savings of people in any other country. Compared to the savings ratio in 2000, only French Japanese and British had been able to save more in 2010 and in the remaining countries, people's individual savings in terms of their income plunged.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response identifies the broad downward trend and supports it with several accurate comparisons, especially for Italy, Canada, France, and Japan. Its main limitation is that Germany and the USA receive little specific coverage, while some claims overstate the scale of decline and several word choices are awkward. The priority is to select a more balanced set of figures and express changes with precise comparative language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A relevant overview and several accurate key comparisons are provided, but coverage is uneven and the final claim that the remaining countries plunged is overstated.
Include representative figures for Germany and the USA and distinguish slight falls from sharp declines.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information follows a generally logical overview-to-detail progression, though transitions and repeated references to savings can feel mechanical.
Group countries by similar trends and use fewer formulaic transitions to sharpen progression.
Lexical Resource
The response shows useful range for describing proportions and change, but recurrent awkward choices such as 'savings were done' and 'savings ration' reduce precision.
Use standard data-reporting collocations such as 'the savings rate rose', 'fell', and 'stood at'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex comparisons are attempted and meaning remains clear, but errors in comparison structures, articles, agreement, and punctuation recur.
Check comparative forms and clause boundaries, especially constructions such as 'almost double the figure recorded ten years earlier'.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The table below shows personal saving as a percentage of personal income for selected countries in 1970, 1990 and 2010.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.