The table below shows the number of visitors in the UK and their average spending from 2003 to 2008.
Sample Response
The table indicates information about the number of people who visited the UK, the amount of money they spend and their average length of stay between 2003 and 2008.
Overall, the figures of all categories increased over the surveyed time, except for the average nights per visit which experienced a slight drop.
In the year 2003, 24.7 million visitors chose the UK as their destination, and spent approximately 11.855 billion pounds. The number of holidaymakers increased each year until reaching a peak of 32.778 billion in 2007, declining slightly to roughly 31.88 billion in 2008. The amount of money they spent also witnessed a significant growth, peaking at about 16.3 billion at the end of the period.
The average duration per visit was 8.2 nights in 2008, while 475 pounds was the amount of money an average traveller spent. The average duration per visit climbed slightly until reaching its highest point of 8.4 nights in 2006. Meanwhile, there was a fluctuation in the amount of money spent per visit, with 511 pounds being the highest level of expenditure in 2008.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Keep past tense Original: spend Suggested revision: spent Why it matters: The table covers a completed period, so the verb should be in the past tense.
- 2. Use standard time phrase Original: surveyed time Suggested revision: period Why it matters: Over the period is the conventional concise phrase for the years shown.
- 3. Avoid unsupported category Original: holidaymakers Suggested revision: visitors Why it matters: The table counts all visits and does not identify every visitor as a holidaymaker.
- 4. Correct visitor unit Original: billion Suggested revision: million Why it matters: The table reports the number of visits in millions, not billions.
- 5. Correct visitor unit Original: billion Suggested revision: million Why it matters: The 2008 number of visits is 31.88 million.
- 6. Fix growth collocation Original: witnessed a significant growth Suggested revision: increased significantly Why it matters: Growth is normally uncountable here, and the direct verb is more natural.
- 7. Correct 2008 duration Original: 8.2 nights in 2008 Suggested revision: 7.7 nights in 2008 Why it matters: The table gives 7.7 as the average nights per visit in 2008.
- 8. Correct year and syntax Original: 475 pounds was the amount of money an average traveller spent Suggested revision: the average traveller spent 475 pounds in 2003 Why it matters: The £475 figure belongs to 2003, whereas the value for 2008 is £511.
- 9. Use concise reporting verb Original: indicates information Suggested revision: presents data Why it matters: Presents data is a more natural and concise description of the table.
- 10. Correct category preposition Original: of Suggested revision: for Why it matters: Figures for is the standard prepositional pattern when referring to categories.
- 11. Use direct trend wording Original: which experienced a slight drop Suggested revision: which fell slightly Why it matters: The direct verb describes the change more clearly and concisely.
- 12. Condense time reference Original: In the year 2003 Suggested revision: In 2003 Why it matters: The year is already clear, so the shorter form is more natural.
Suggested Rewrites
- spend spent
- surveyed time period
- holidaymakers visitors
- billion million
- billion million
- witnessed a significant growth increased significantly
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response has a clear structure, an appropriate overview, and enough language range to convey the main changes across the period. Its reliability is weakened by several data errors: visitor totals are labelled as billions rather than millions, and the 2003 spending and stay figures are incorrectly assigned to 2008. The priority is to check units and years carefully and compare the fluctuating per-visit measures more accurately.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The overview identifies the broad trends and several key figures, but incorrect units and misassigned endpoint data reduce accuracy.
Verify every unit and year against the table, especially 32.778 million visitors and the 2003 values of £475 and 8.2 nights.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is logically sequenced through an introduction, overview, and two focused detail paragraphs, with clear progression throughout.
Group the per-visit figures explicitly by trend so the contrast between rising spending and falling nights is even easier to follow.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a sufficiently varied range of trend and comparison vocabulary, with only occasional awkward collocations.
Prefer precise forms such as total spending rose and visitor numbers peaked rather than less natural expressions such as witnessed a significant growth.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A variety of simple and complex sentences is handled with good control, despite a few tense and agreement slips.
Check tense consistency and noun forms, changing the amount of money they spend to spent and a significant growth to significant growth.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The table below shows the number of visitors in the UK and their average spending from 2003 to 2008.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.