The pie chart below shows the main reasons why agricultural land becomes less productive. The table shows how these causes affected three regions of the world during the 1990s.
Sample Response
The given pie chart and table depict the significant causes of declining agricultural land productivitycauses of less productivity of agricultural land in three regionsparts of the world in the 1990s. As shown inAs is observed from the pie chart, the main cause of land degradation worldwide isreason for land degradation around the globe is due to over-grazing. The data inIt can be clearly seen from the table that Europe had the highest percentage of total land degraded of the three regionsthan the other two regions.
Over-grazing is the main cause of worldwide land degradation which accounted for 35%. It is followed closely by deforestation which is 5% less than overgrazing by herbivores. The third reason why agricultural land degraded is caused by over-cultivation, accounted for 28%. The remaining categorynon-specific reason , categorised aswhich is categorised as ‘other’ stood at 7%.
Europe had the highest proportion of degraded land, at 23%Europe has the highest percentage of land degraded which is 23% in comparison with Oceania Deletewhich consists of the huge group of islands in the South Pacific including Australia and New Zealand (13%) and North America (5%). In Europe, the largest causemost detrimental cause of land degradation is deforestationdeforestation by human beings which stood at 9.8%, whereas in Oceania, it is caused mainly by over-grazing which accounted for 11.3%, compared with 1.7% for deforestation11.3% than deforestation (1.7%). Over-cultivation did not contribute to the cause of land degradation in Oceania but it was the main reason that caused land degradation in North Americaled North America to face the land degradation problem, which accounted for 3.3%.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response accurately identifies both headline findings and supports them with a strong selection of figures from the pie chart and regional table. Its main weakness is grammatical precision: several comparison and clause structures are awkward despite the consistently clear meaning. The most useful improvement would be to retain the detailed, well-organised coverage while simplifying comparative sentences and checking verb forms, relative clauses, and participle constructions.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview highlights the largest global cause and the most affected region, while accurate supporting figures cover the main patterns across both visuals.
For even fuller coverage, add a concise comparison of Europe's three causes and North America's minor deforestation and over-grazing shares.
Coherence and Cohesion
The report progresses logically from a two-part overview to global causes and then regional contrasts, with clear paragraph focus and effective linking.
Tighten the long regional paragraph by grouping the three regions into shorter comparative sentences and omitting the unnecessary definition of Oceania.
Lexical Resource
A varied and generally precise academic vocabulary describes causes, proportions, and regional differences, despite a few awkward collocations such as "less productivity" and "face the land degradation problem."
Use more natural formulations such as "reduced agricultural productivity" and "the leading cause of degradation in North America".
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a broad range of sentence structures, but recurring errors in comparison, clause construction, and participle forms prevent consistently accurate control.
Correct structures such as "higher than," "accounting for," and "compared with 1.7% for deforestation," and avoid combining "reason" with "is caused by" in the same clause.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The pie chart below shows the main reasons why agricultural land becomes less productive. The table shows how these causes affected three regions of the world during the 1990s.
Your response
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