The chart below shows the numbers of male and female research students studying six science-related subjects at a UK university in 2009.

Same questionCompare 2 different answers (Band 6.5–7)

Sample Response

1

The column graph compares the male and female research students atin a UK university in six science-relatedmajor subjects in 2009in the year 2009. As a general trend, biology and medicine were preferred by both sexes while physics and astronomy were picked by male research students in this university. The chart shows thatAs is obvious from the given illustration, physics, astronomy and geology were more popular amongmostly picked by the male research studentspupils while veterinary medicine Deleteas a subject was mostly preferred by females. While more than 200 male took physics, only about 40 womenfemale did so, anddid so and a similar trend could be observed forin the case of astronomy and geology. Biology had the highest enrolmentThe highest number of students took biology with a combined enrolment of about 435as the number of students in this subject exceeded 400. Medicine was the second preferred subjects by the students of this university with exactly 200 male and about 175 female students. The only subject in which women outnumbered menwhich got more female students than male was veterinary medicine in which about 110 women enrolled, compared with about 80 menmore than 100 female enrolled compared to the just about 90 male students. The number of male research students in this UK university was approximately one thousand while it was about 550 for female.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 7.0

The response identifies the dominant subjects, the broad gender contrasts, and several important figures from the chart, so the main patterns are easy to follow. Its principal weakness is data precision: the reported female total is substantially too low, and a few category descriptions are vague or slightly inaccurate. Prioritise checking every stated total against the visual and using more natural academic terms for participants and subject choices.

Band score breakdown

IELTS Writing Criteria Scores

TA

Task Achievement

7.0
Scoring rule

A clear overview and relevant comparisons cover the principal patterns, although the female total is substantially inaccurate and some figures lack precision.

Next step

Recalculate the female total as approximately 660 and support the astronomy and geology comparison with their separate values.

CC

Coherence and Cohesion

7.0
Scoring rule

The report progresses clearly from an overview to subject-level comparisons and totals, with generally effective connections despite its single-block presentation.

Next step

Separate the overview from the detailed comparisons and group the male-dominated subjects together before discussing biology, medicine, and veterinary medicine.

LR

Lexical Resource

6.5
Scoring rule

The vocabulary is sufficiently varied for comparison, but expressions such as 'picked,' 'research pupils,' and 'subject got' are imprecise or unnatural.

Next step

Use precise academic collocations such as 'enrolled in,' 'research students,' and 'was more popular among women.'

GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

6.5
Scoring rule

The response uses a range of complex structures, but recurring number, agreement, and article errors reduce grammatical control without obscuring meaning.

Next step

Use plural count forms consistently, for example '200 men,' '40 women,' and 'Medicine was the second most popular subject.'

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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

The chart below shows the numbers of male and female research students studying six science-related subjects at a UK university in 2009.

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