The charts below give information about travel to and from the UK, and about the most popular countries for UK residents to visit. Visits to and from the UK
Sample Response
The illustration outlines how many foreign tourists travelled to the UK and how many UK residents went out to travel between 1979 and 1999. Moreover, it also shows where those UK citizens went in 1999. Overall, the influx of tourists in the UK was fewer than the number of British who travelled outside, and France was their favourite destination. In details, 10 million tourists visited the United Kingdom in 1979 while around 13 million British spent their holidays out of the country. From 1979 to 1999, the outbound UK residents' number was higher than the inrush of foreign tourists in the UK. The gap widens in later years and finally in 1999, almost 55 million British left the country to travel outside while just over 25 million other nationalities entered the UK border as tourists. France was the favourite destination to British travellers as more than 10 million British travelled there in 1999. With around 2 million UK tourists, Turkey was their least preferred holiday place. Spain was visited by approximately 8 million UK travellers which made it the second most popular destination this year. USA and Greece received the third and fourth most-visited places by UK tourists with between 2 to 3 million tourists each.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use plural for charts Original: illustration Suggested revision: charts Why it matters: The task contains two separate charts, so a plural subject is required.
- 2. Use natural travel phrase Original: went out to travel Suggested revision: travelled abroad Why it matters: Travelled abroad is the concise standard expression.
- 3. Remove redundant linker Original: Moreover, it also Suggested revision: The second chart Why it matters: Moreover and also are redundant, while naming the second chart clarifies the reference.
- 4. Name the series accurately Original: influx of tourists in the UK Suggested revision: number of overseas visitors to the UK Why it matters: The graph counts visits rather than measuring an abstract influx.
- 5. Compare quantities correctly Original: fewer Suggested revision: lower Why it matters: Lower is used to compare numerical totals, whereas fewer modifies countable nouns directly.
- 6. Use fixed expression Original: details Suggested revision: detail Why it matters: The reporting phrase is in detail, with detail in the singular.
- 7. Use precise series wording Original: British spent their holidays out of the country Suggested revision: UK residents travelled abroad Why it matters: The chart records visits abroad and does not specify that every trip was a holiday.
- 8. Correct noun phrase Original: outbound UK residents' number Suggested revision: number of UK residents travelling abroad Why it matters: The replacement gives the measured group in a natural grammatical structure.
- 9. Use neutral chart language Original: inrush of foreign tourists in the UK Suggested revision: number of overseas visitors to the UK Why it matters: Inrush is emotive and does not accurately name the plotted series.
- 10. Keep past tense consistent Original: widens Suggested revision: widened Why it matters: The report describes a completed historical period, so the past tense is required.
- 11. Set off time phrase Original: and finally in 1999 Suggested revision: and finally, in 1999 Why it matters: A comma after finally separates the introductory adverb clearly.
- 12. Use concise chart wording Original: British left the country to travel outside Suggested revision: UK residents travelled abroad Why it matters: The replacement states the outbound travel measure directly and naturally.
Suggested Rewrites
- illustration charts
- went out to travel travelled abroad
- Moreover, it also The second chart
- influx of tourists in the UK number of overseas visitors to the UK
- fewer lower
- details detail
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response’s strongest feature is its clear overview and broad coverage of both charts, with accurate starting and ending comparisons and the correct destination ranking. Its main limitation is precision: Spain is understated, the USA is incorrectly placed in the two-to-three-million range, and several travel expressions are unnatural. Prioritise checking each destination value against the bar chart and presenting the two datasets in separate, clearly organised detail paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The report gives a clear overview, accurately describes the widening travel gap, and covers all five destinations, though some bar-chart values are imprecise.
Correct Spain to about 9 million and the USA to about 4 million, while retaining the accurate ranking.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response moves logically from overall trends to destination rankings, but presenting everything in one paragraph limits structural clarity.
Use one overview paragraph, one paragraph for travel trends, and one for the five destinations.
Lexical Resource
A reasonable range of travel vocabulary is attempted, but recurrent combinations such as ‘influx was fewer’, ‘inrush of tourists’, and ‘received the third place’ are unnatural.
Use standard phrases such as ‘fewer visitors arrived’, ‘outbound travel’, and ‘ranked third’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied sentence structures, although errors with comparisons, articles, prepositions, tense consistency, and nationality nouns recur.
Review comparative structures and use ‘UK residents’ or ‘British people’ rather than ‘the number of British’ or ‘million British’.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The charts below give information about travel to and from the UK, and about the most popular countries for UK residents to visit. Visits to and from the UK
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.