The graph below shows the number of shops that closed and the number of new shops that opened in one country between 2011 and 2018.
Sample Response
The line graph illustrates the changes in numbers of closed shops and newly openednewly-opened shops in one country from 2011 to 2018.
It is noticeable that both closures and openings experienced an overall decline throughout the period, while closures had a much smaller final drop compared with the initial number. While the figure for openings was largely higher than that of closures in the beginning, it was soon overtaken in 2012.
In 2011, around 8500 new shops opened, while the figure for closed shops stayedstaying much lower at 6400. However, the number of openings was overtaken between 2011 and 2012 after a drastic fall to slightly less than 4000 in 2012 in openings, while only a moderate slide happened to that of closures to about 6000. Since then, openings continued increasing steadily for two years to around 6100 in 2014, while the figure for closures climbed to approximately 7100 in 20132012 and then slid back to slightly higher than its original place one year later.
Soon afterwards, a steep fall brought closures to a low of roughly 600to the bottom roughly 600 in 2015, yet the figure for openings underwent a milder decrease to 4000. After bouncing back to around 5100 in 2016, the number of closures remained relatively stable until 2018stayed stable to 2018 with minor fluctuations. Meanwhile, openings saw a slightmoderate gradual increase by about 100 shops from 2015 to 2017, before dipping to 3000 in 2018.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The report effectively highlights key trends with a clear overview and logical structure across the period. Its main limitation is occasional inaccuracy in reporting specific year-data points alongside minor grammatical errors. To improve, focus on double-checking figure-year alignments and refining participle clauses for complete grammatical precision.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response presents a clear overview and covers key trends and figures well, though it misstates a year when referring to the peak in closures.
Ensure every data point and year corresponds precisely to the visual chart before finalizing the report.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is organized logically with clear paragraphing and effective transitional phrasing between time periods.
Maintain this smooth narrative flow while ensuring chronological transitions remain accurate to the dataset.
Lexical Resource
A wide and flexible vocabulary is used to describe changes, fluctuations, and comparisons appropriately.
Continue utilizing varied trend vocabulary, ensuring prepositional combinations with numbers remain fully accurate.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A good variety of complex grammatical structures is demonstrated, though a few minor punctuation and clause-structure slips occur.
Proofread participial phrases and prepositions following movement verbs to ensure complete grammatical correctness.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The graph below shows the number of shops that closed and the number of new shops that opened in one country between 2011 and 2018.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.