The pie chart below shows the proportion of different categories of families living in poverty in the UK in 2002.
Sample Response
The pie chart outlines the percentages of poor family types in the United Kingdom in 2002. Generally speaking, 14% British households were insolvent in 2002 and half of those poor families were sole parents and singles without any child. As can be seen, 26% sole parents in the United Kingdom were economically insolvent in 2002 and this was the highest ratio for the poor British family types. Poverty was prevalent among the singles without children as 24% of them were under the poverty line. These two types of households accounted for half of the total poverty-stricken families in the UK in 2002. Couples with children had greater poverty rate than couples without children. While the 15% former family types witnessed economic misfortune, the latter accounted for 9% of such households. It is worth noticing that ages British had fewer poverty rates than their younger counterparts. One in twenty aged couples had to go through financial hardships while it was 7% for the single aged person.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Describe the measure accurately Original: percentages of poor family types Suggested revision: proportions of people in different household types living in poverty Why it matters: The chart shows the poverty rate within each household category, not shares of poor family types.
- 2. Add percentage preposition Original: 26% sole parents Suggested revision: 26% of sole parents Why it matters: A percentage requires of before the noun group.
- 3. Use the chart's measure Original: economically insolvent Suggested revision: living in poverty Why it matters: Insolvent is not equivalent to the poverty measure shown in the chart.
- 4. Clarify the comparison Original: highest ratio for the poor British family types Suggested revision: highest rate among the household types shown Why it matters: The replacement accurately compares poverty rates across household categories.
- 5. Use natural category label Original: the singles without children Suggested revision: single adults without children Why it matters: This is a clearer label for the household category.
- 6. Add definite article Original: under Suggested revision: below Why it matters: Below the poverty line is the standard grammatical expression.
- 7. Add article and compare Original: greater poverty rate Suggested revision: a higher poverty rate Why it matters: The singular count noun needs an article, and higher is the natural comparative.
- 8. Correct the group name Original: ages British Suggested revision: older Britons Why it matters: The original phrase is malformed and does not name the aged categories clearly.
- 9. Use correct comparison Original: fewer Suggested revision: lower Why it matters: Rates are described as higher or lower, not fewer.
- 10. Use chart categories Original: their younger counterparts Suggested revision: the other household categories Why it matters: The chart contrasts household types rather than defined age-matched counterparts.
- 11. Keep units consistent Original: One in twenty aged couples Suggested revision: Five per cent of aged couples Why it matters: Using percentages consistently makes comparison with the other categories easier.
- 12. Use precise chart wording Original: had to go through financial hardships Suggested revision: lived in poverty Why it matters: The concise replacement matches the specific measure in the chart.
Suggested Rewrites
- percentages of poor family types proportions of people in different household types living in poverty
- 26% sole parents 26% of sole parents
- economically insolvent living in poverty
- highest ratio for the poor British family types highest rate among the household types shown
- the singles without children single adults without children
- under below
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response’s strongest feature is its coverage of every household category and its identification of sole parents and singles without children as the groups with the highest poverty rates. The main limitation is a central misreading: adding 26% and 24% does not show that these groups constitute half of all poor families, because each percentage uses a different household group as its base. Prioritise describing rates within categories and making accurate high-to-low comparisons.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
All categories and most figures are covered, but the claim that the two highest-rate groups make up half of poor families misinterprets the chart’s denominators.
Present each figure as the poverty rate within that household type and overview the highest and lowest categories without adding unlike percentages.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response progresses logically from the highest rates through couples to aged households, although the single paragraph and some unclear references weaken cohesion.
Separate the overview from grouped details and replace vague references such as ‘former family types’ and ‘the latter’ with explicit category names.
Lexical Resource
The response shows a reasonable range of poverty-related vocabulary, but several choices, including ‘insolvent’, ‘poor family types’, and ‘witnessed economic misfortune’, are imprecise or unnatural.
Prefer neutral statistical language such as ‘living below the poverty line’, ‘household categories’, and ‘had a poverty rate of’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex comparisons are attempted and meaning remains clear, but article, adjective, noun-phrase, and agreement errors occur throughout.
Review percentage structures such as ‘26% of sole-parent households’ and correct forms such as ‘aged Britons’ and ‘a lower poverty rate’.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The pie chart below shows the proportion of different categories of families living in poverty in the UK in 2002.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.