The three pie charts below show the changes in annual spending by local authorities in Someland in 1980, 1990 and 2000.
Sample Response
The charts show how much local authorities spent on a range of services in Someland in three separate years: 1980, 1990 and 2000. In all three years, the greatest expenditure was on education. But while K-12 education saw a fall from 25% in 1980 to only 18% of spending in 2000, higher education remained the largest proportion, reaching 45% of total spending in 1990 and ending at 40% in 2000. Expenditure on health and human resources had increased to 20% by 1990 before decreasing to only 10% by the end of the period. In contrast, the share of transportation saw an opposite trend. This cost decreased to only 6% of total expenditure in 1990 but rose dramatically in 2000 when it represented 22% of the total budget. Similarly, the cost of environmental services saw a rising trend, growing from only 4% to 9% by 2000. Overall, higher education constituted the largest cost to local authorities, and while spending increased for transportation and environmental services, there were corresponding drops in expenditure on health and human resources and K-12 education.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. State the category count Original: a range of services Suggested revision: six services Why it matters: Naming the six categories makes the introduction more precise.
- 2. Identify the largest sector Original: the greatest expenditure was on education Suggested revision: higher education accounted for the largest share of expenditure Why it matters: The chart shows higher education as the largest individual category in every year.
- 3. Show the later decline Original: ending at 40% Suggested revision: then falling to 40% Why it matters: This wording makes the decrease from 45% in 1990 to 40% in 2000 explicit.
- 4. Use consistent past tense Original: had increased to 20% Suggested revision: increased to 20% Why it matters: The simple past is clearer for reporting a completed change shown by the chart.
- 5. Use natural spending language Original: the share of transportation Suggested revision: spending on transportation Why it matters: This collocation describes a budget category more naturally.
- 6. Describe the pattern directly Original: saw an opposite trend Suggested revision: followed the opposite pattern Why it matters: The revision states the contrasting movement more naturally.
- 7. Refer to the share Original: cost Suggested revision: share Why it matters: The percentages represent shares of expenditure rather than monetary costs.
- 8. Avoid a false similarity Original: Similarly Suggested revision: Meanwhile Why it matters: Environmental spending rose steadily, whereas transportation first fell and then rose sharply.
- 9. Use precise chart wording Original: the cost of environmental services Suggested revision: the share spent on environmental services Why it matters: The chart reports a percentage of expenditure, not an absolute cost.
- 10. Include the omitted category Suggested revision: Add the decline in the Other category from 6% in 1980 to 1% in 2000. Why it matters: The response otherwise covers every category, so omitting Other leaves one visible trend unreported.
Suggested Rewrites
- a range of services six services
- the greatest expenditure was on education higher education accounted for the largest share of expenditure
- ending at 40% then falling to 40%
- had increased to 20% increased to 20%
- the share of transportation spending on transportation
- saw an opposite trend followed the opposite pattern
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response accurately identifies the dominant spending category and clearly tracks the main changes in transportation, health and human resources, and education. Its main limitation is that it omits the Other category and gives only partial coverage of environmental spending, so the account is not fully comprehensive. Prioritise a concise comparison that covers every category while retaining the strong selection of major trends.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and accurate key comparisons cover most major changes, though the Other category and some intermediate environmental data are omitted.
Include the remaining category and compare its decline across the three years to make the coverage fully comprehensive.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically from education to the other services, with cohesive contrasts and a clear concluding overview.
Separate the overview from the detailed comparisons to make the structure easier to scan.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally precise, with effective terms such as constituted, proportion, and corresponding drops.
Replace slightly awkward phrases such as This cost and saw an opposite trend with more precise descriptions of the spending share.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex sentence forms is handled accurately, with only minor awkwardness in tense and phrasing.
Use simple past consistently when describing dated figures and reserve the past perfect for genuine earlier-past relationships.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The three pie charts below show the changes in annual spending by local authorities in Someland in 1980, 1990 and 2000.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.