The charts below give information about USA marriage and divorce rates between 1970 and 2000, and the marital status of adult Americans in two of the years.
Sample Response
The bar graphs show data on the marriage and divorce rate in the USA from 1970 to 2000 and also show the marital statuses of the US citizens in these two years. According to the first bat graph, the marriage rate in 1970 & 1980 was 2.5 million and this rate decreased to 2 million in the year 2000. On the contrary, the divorce rate in the USA was 1 million in 1970 and this rate increased to almost 1.5 million in 1980 and after that, it kept decreased to around 1 million again in the year 2000. From the second graph, we can observe that in 1970 70% of adults were married while less than 15% never got married. The percentage of widowed and divorced people were less than 10% in this year. After 30 years, in 2000, the percentages of the married population decreased by 10% and the percentage of people who either never got married or got divorced increased.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use plural rates Original: rate Suggested revision: rates Why it matters: Two separate rates are being described, so the noun should be plural.
- 2. Match chart population Original: US citizens Suggested revision: adult Americans Why it matters: The second chart specifically concerns adults rather than all US citizens.
- 3. Correct spelling Original: bat Suggested revision: bar Why it matters: “Bar graph” is the correct name for this visual.
- 4. Use formal conjunction Original: 1970 & 1980 Suggested revision: 1970 and 1980 Why it matters: Writing out “and” is more appropriate in an academic report.
- 5. Use contrast linker Original: On the contrary Suggested revision: By contrast Why it matters: “By contrast” compares the marriage and divorce trends without implying that a prior claim is false.
- 6. Use gerund after kept Original: decreased Suggested revision: decreasing Why it matters: “Keep” takes an -ing form when describing a continuing trend.
- 7. Add year comma Original: in 1970 70% Suggested revision: in 1970, 70% Why it matters: A comma separates the introductory time phrase from the main clause.
- 8. Fix plural agreement Original: percentage Suggested revision: percentages Why it matters: Separate percentages are reported for the two groups, requiring a plural subject.
- 9. Use percentage points Original: the percentages of the married population decreased by 10% Suggested revision: the percentage of the married population fell by 10 percentage points Why it matters: The value moved from 70% to 60%, a fall of ten percentage points rather than ten percent.
- 10. Use singular status noun Original: statuses Suggested revision: status Why it matters: “Marital status” is normally used as an uncountable category label here.
- 11. Name years explicitly Original: in these two years Suggested revision: in 1970 and 2000 Why it matters: Only the second chart compares these two specific years, so they should be named clearly.
- 12. Use count terminology Original: the marriage rate Suggested revision: the number of marriages Why it matters: The first chart reports numbers in millions rather than a rate.
Suggested Rewrites
- rate rates
- US citizens adult Americans
- bat bar
- 1970 & 1980 1970 and 1980
- On the contrary By contrast
- decreased decreasing
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response communicates the main movements in marriages, divorces, and adult marital status with mostly accurate figures, and its chart-by-chart sequence is easy to follow. However, it lacks a distinct overall summary and omits the 1990 data and the slight fall in widowhood; the highest-priority improvement is to state the combined trends first, then support them with all four time points and precise percentage figures.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The principal trends are generally accurate, but there is no clear overview and important features such as the 1990 marriage and divorce figures and declining widowhood are omitted.
Add an overview noting that marriages fell overall, divorces peaked in 1980, and married adults decreased while never-married and divorced shares rose.
Coherence and Cohesion
The report moves logically from the first chart to the second, but the single paragraph and repetitive sentence linking make the progression mechanical.
Use a separate overview and one detail paragraph for each chart, with comparisons grouped rather than connected mainly by repeated uses of "this rate."
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is adequate for describing change, but repetition of "rate," "percentage," and "increased" limits flexibility, and "bat graph" is a noticeable spelling error.
Vary accurate terms such as "number," "proportion," "rose," "peaked," and "declined," while proofreading key chart vocabulary.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning remains clear through both simple and complex sentences, although agreement and verb-form errors such as "it kept decreased" and "the percentage ... were" recur.
Review tense and agreement in trend descriptions, using forms such as "continued to decrease" and "the percentages were below 10%."
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The charts below give information about USA marriage and divorce rates between 1970 and 2000, and the marital status of adult Americans in two of the years.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.