The pie charts below show the percentage of housing owned and rented in the UK in 1991 and 2007.
Sample Response
The two pie charts compared housing owned and rented like a homeowner, social housing, social renting and private renting in terms of percentage, in the UK in two different years 1991 and 2007.
Overall, in both years, homeowners proportion was highest as compared to other components. However, social housing was the last category. The number of houses was also rose steadily after 16 years.
In 1991, the number of houses had 22 million. Homeowners were around 55% which was the highest in that period. Additionally, the next largest sector was social rented homes, accounting for a quarter or 23%, social housing and private renting were the least proportion that year, roughly one in ten and 13% respectively. In 2007, homeowners were rose to 70%, which was 15% higher than the 1991 year contrary, social housing was fell to 6% and remained 3% that was lower in this year. Moreover, Privately rented homes remained the same at 13%, social renting was also plunge, accounting to a 12%with lower sector. The number of houses had also grown to 5 million.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add article and preposition Original: homeowners proportion Suggested revision: the proportion of homeowners Why it matters: The noun phrase requires an article and an of-phrase to express possession correctly.
- 2. Use category comparison Original: highest as compared to other components Suggested revision: the largest of all categories Why it matters: Largest share is the natural way to compare proportions across housing categories.
- 3. Describe the smallest share Original: last Suggested revision: smallest Why it matters: The chart ranks categories by proportion, so smallest conveys the intended meaning.
- 4. Avoid unsupported trend Original: was also rose steadily Suggested revision: also increased Why it matters: With only two years shown, the chart supports an increase but not a steady trend.
- 5. Use period expression Original: after 16 years Suggested revision: over the 16-year period Why it matters: Over the period correctly describes the interval between the two observations.
- 6. Fix quantity structure Original: had Suggested revision: was Why it matters: A total number is stated with was rather than had.
- 7. Correct homeowner share Original: around 55% Suggested revision: 60% Why it matters: The 1991 chart shows home ownership at 60%, not approximately 55%.
- 8. Repair sentence structure Original: which was the highest in that period Suggested revision: , the largest share that year Why it matters: This appositive completes the sentence cleanly and identifies the category's relative size.
- 9. State the proportion accurately Original: a quarter or 23% Suggested revision: just under a quarter, at 23% Why it matters: Twenty-three percent is slightly below one quarter rather than an alternative equivalent figure.
- 10. Fix clause connection Original: social housing and private renting were the least proportion that year, Suggested revision: while social housing and private renting had the smallest shares that year: Why it matters: This replacement connects the comparison grammatically and introduces the following figures clearly.
- 11. Correct 1991 figures Original: roughly one in ten and 13% respectively Suggested revision: 6% and 11%, respectively Why it matters: The chart shows 6% for social housing and 11% for private renting in 1991.
- 12. Use consistent category name Original: Privately rented homes Suggested revision: Private renting Why it matters: Private renting matches the category label and the noun-based labels used elsewhere.
Suggested Rewrites
- homeowners proportion the proportion of homeowners
- highest as compared to other components the largest of all categories
- last smallest
- was also rose steadily also increased
- after 16 years over the 16-year period
- had was
Why this response received Band 5.5
The response has a recognisable overview and identifies home ownership as the largest category in both years, while also noting the rise in the total housing stock. However, numerous percentages are inaccurate or unclear, and frequent grammatical errors weaken comparisons. The highest-priority improvement is to verify every chart value and present each category's change in a separate, grammatically complete comparison.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The main pattern is identified, but several category percentages are inaccurate and the final statement confuses an increase of five million with a total of five million homes.
Check the chart carefully and report the correct figures for all four categories in both years, distinguishing totals from changes.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response follows an introduction-overview-details structure, but run-on sentences and poorly controlled linking make parts of the detail paragraph difficult to follow.
Use shorter sentences and organise the details by category so each 1991-to-2007 comparison is easy to trace.
Lexical Resource
There is enough vocabulary to describe proportions and change, but frequent collocational and word-form errors reduce precision.
Use accurate combinations such as 'the proportion of homeowners rose', 'social renting fell', and 'accounted for'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Frequent errors in verb forms, agreement, articles, and sentence boundaries sometimes strain meaning despite some attempted complex structures.
Prioritise subject-verb agreement and avoid combining passive auxiliaries with simple change verbs, as in 'were rose' or 'was fell'.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The pie charts below show the percentage of housing owned and rented in the UK in 1991 and 2007.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.