The graphs show changes in spending habits of people in UK between 1971 and 2001.
Sample Response
The pie charts compare the proportionspercentage of expenditure by people in the UKby the people in the UK on seven different categories:categories; computers, books, furniture, restaurants, petrol, cars and food. The data are shown forFigures are given for the years 1971 and 2001.
In general, the shares of expenditure were higher forthere were higher percentages of expenditure on food, furniture and petrol in 1971 than in 2001than that in 2001. In contrast, the year 2001 had larger shares of spendinghigher percentages of spending on cars, restaurants and computers.
In particular, the largest shares of expenditure in 1971 werethe year 1971 mainly had large proportions of expenditure on food and cars. The percentage of spending on food was the largesthighest, at 44%, while the shareproportion of expenditure on cars was less than a quarter, at 22%. In 1971, British people spent 10% on petrol, compared to 7% on restaurants. The sharesfigures for furniture, computers and books werepresented 9%, 2% and 6% respectively.
On the other hand, the year 2001 had higher expenditures on cars, food and restaurants. The percentage of spending on cars was less than a half, at 43%, while the figures for both food and restaurants take up 14% for each. The proportion of spending on computers was 12%made up 12%. The categories for petrol, furniture and books accounted for relatively small shares of 8%, 8% and 1%showed relatively lower proportions of expenditure which were 8%, 8% and 1% respectively.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response accurately reports every category and gives a clear overview of the main shifts, with particularly effective selection of figures. Its main limitation is slightly repetitive, sometimes awkward reporting language, while the overview could also acknowledge the sharp fall in books. The highest-priority improvement is to make comparisons more direct and varied so the accurate data reads as a more concise analytical summary.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response provides a clear overview and accurately reports all seven categories for both years with relevant comparisons.
Strengthen the overview by also highlighting the especially large fall in food and the decline in books.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is logically divided into an introduction, overview, and year-by-year detail paragraphs with clear progression.
Use more direct cross-year comparisons and reduce mechanical paragraph openers to create a tighter analytical flow.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is sufficiently varied for describing proportions and expenditure, although several reporting collocations are awkward or repetitive.
Prefer precise combinations such as 'accounted for' and 'spending on' instead of expressions such as 'figures presented' or 'categories showed proportions'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of sentence structures is used with generally good control, and the few errors do not impede meaning.
Maintain consistent past-tense reporting and refine comparison structures and subject-verb agreement in longer sentences.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The graphs show changes in spending habits of people in UK between 1971 and 2001.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.