The graph below shows the different modes of transport used to travel to and from work in one European city in 1960, 1980 and 2000.
Sample Response
The diagram delineates the type of transportations citizens of a European country used to travel to and from their workplaces in three different years - 1960, 1980 and 2000. As an overall trend, cars gained a huge popularity as the mode of commuting while bus lost its appeal as a viable mode of communication to these Europeans. As the diagram suggests, around four out of ten of these Europeans used buses to reach their offices and to get back homes in 1960. Tubes were the second most prefered mode of transportation as more 25% people took this form of vehicle. Interestingly, Only around one in every 18 people used cars to travel while trains were preferred by roughly 18% citizens for commuting to and from offices. After two decades, trains and personal cars gained their demands as more than half of the population used these two forms of transports. Tubes and buses retained less proportion of commuters in this year and buses seem like lost its attraction as a mode of transportation. Finally, in 2000, more than one-third of these Europeans started using cars while only 15% of them used buses to travel to and from their workplaces. Tubes retained almost one-fourth of the commuters while train usage stood just above 20%.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use transport phrase Original: type of transportations Suggested revision: modes of transport Why it matters: Transport is uncountable here, and modes accurately describes the categories.
- 2. Match graph scope Original: country Suggested revision: city Why it matters: The visual describes commuters in one city, not an entire country.
- 3. Use list punctuation Original: three different years - 1960 Suggested revision: three years: 1960 Why it matters: A colon correctly introduces the list of years.
- 4. Use natural trend Original: gained a huge popularity Suggested revision: became much more popular Why it matters: Popularity does not normally take the article a in this phrase.
- 5. Describe measured change Original: bus lost its appeal Suggested revision: bus use declined Why it matters: The graph measures the share of commuters using buses rather than their subjective appeal.
- 6. Use transport term Original: communication Suggested revision: transport Why it matters: A bus is a form of transport, not communication.
- 7. Clarify population Original: to these Europeans Suggested revision: among these commuters Why it matters: This term refers precisely to the people represented in the graph.
- 8. Fix home phrase Original: get back homes Suggested revision: return home Why it matters: Home takes no plural ending or preceding directional preposition in this expression.
- 9. Correct spelling Original: prefered Suggested revision: preferred Why it matters: Preferred takes a doubled r.
- 10. Complete percentage phrase Original: as more 25% people Suggested revision: as more than 25% of people Why it matters: The comparison requires than and the percentage requires of before people.
- 11. Name transport mode Original: this form of vehicle Suggested revision: this mode of transport Why it matters: Tube is a transport mode rather than a form of vehicle.
- 12. Avoid unsupported onset Original: these Europeans started using cars Suggested revision: commuters used cars Why it matters: The graph gives the share in 2000 but does not show that car use began in that year.
Suggested Rewrites
- type of transportations modes of transport
- country city
- three different years - 1960 three years: 1960
- gained a huge popularity became much more popular
- bus lost its appeal bus use declined
- communication transport
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response selects the main changes well, especially the rise of car use and the fall in bus use, and most figures closely match the chart. The main limitation is imprecision in the 1980 comparison, where train and car shares total about half rather than more than half, alongside frequent awkward language. Prioritise exact year-by-year comparisons and then revise recurring noun, article, and verb-pattern errors for clearer reporting.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and well-selected figures describe the major transport shifts, with only minor numerical and contextual inaccuracies.
State that train and car use totalled about 50% in 1980 and consistently refer to commuters in a city rather than a country.
Coherence and Cohesion
The chronological progression is easy to follow and linking is generally effective, but presenting the entire report as one paragraph limits clarity.
Place the overview separately and divide the details into an earlier-years comparison and a focused account of the 2000 outcomes.
Lexical Resource
The response shows reasonable range for trends and transport, but repeated word-choice and collocation errors make several descriptions unnatural.
Replace forms such as "transportations", "mode of communication", and "gained their demands" with precise transport and trend language.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied sentence forms, but frequent errors in articles, plurals, agreement, and verb patterns reduce grammatical control.
Proofread quantified noun phrases and verb constructions, especially "more than 25% of people" and "buses seemed to lose their appeal".
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The graph below shows the different modes of transport used to travel to and from work in one European city in 1960, 1980 and 2000.
Your response
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