The charts below show the main reasons why students chose a particular university in the UK in 1997 and 2007.
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Sample Response
The two pie charts illustrate five main factorsthe five reasons why students chose a particular university in the UK in 1997 and 2007.
Overall, suitable degree courses were the most common reason why students chose their universities in 1997 and 2007. By contrast, proximity to parental home was the least common reason in 1997, whereas good sports and social activities were the least common factorreason in 2007.
In 1997, 35% of the students cited suitable degree courses as the main reasontook suitable degree courses as the reason they chose a particular university, while this figure rose to 37% in 2007, an increase of 2 percentage pointseven 2 percentage points higher than its percentage in 1997. The second most common reasonThen the second reason in 1997 was the quality of resources, which made up 21% before falling to 17% in 2007.made up 21%. Besides, there waswe could also see a big difference inabout the percentage of proximity to parental home; it wasparental home, it was the lowest in 1997, only representing 10%, 12 percentage points lowerless than that in 2007.
Although 19% of students consideredAlthough there were 19% of the students thought good sports and social activities were the reason they chose their universities in 1997, this figure dropped significantlyit sharply dropped to 6% in 2007, 13 percentage points lower than the 1997 level13 percentage points less than that in 1997. Furthermore, 18% of the students chose their universitychose university in 2007 because of the quality of teaching, up from 15% in 1997.because of the quality of teaching in 2007.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response highlights key trends and comparison points accurately, supported by a clear overview paragraph. However, mechanical cohesive devices and several grammatical errors—particularly in relative clauses and sentence structures—limit overall clarity. Focusing on integrating data more fluidly and refining complex grammatical patterns will help elevate the score.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
Key features and data changes from both years are accurately identified and presented with a clear overall summary.
Group remaining minor details into systematic thematic comparisons rather than listing data points individually.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is logically organized into distinct paragraphs, but transitional phrases are occasionally informal or repetitive.
Replace informal linking expressions like 'we could also see' with more formal academic cohesive devices.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is generally adequate for describing data, though some phrasing choices are wordy or slightly awkward.
Use precise noun phrases such as 'the primary factor' instead of wordy structures like 'took suitable degree courses as the reason'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex sentences is attempted, but recurring errors in clause structure and prepositions are evident.
Practice correct relative clause structures to fix errors like 'there were 19% of students thought'.