The table below shows the proportion of different categories of families living in poverty in Australia in 1999.
Sample Response
The table presentsThe table data presents information about the types of Australian householdsfamilies who were poverty-stricken in 1999. It also shows the numbers and proportions of people living in poverty within each household typethe number and proportion of such impoverished families for the same year. Overall, more than 1.83 million Australian families were poor in 1999 and it comprised just over one-tenth of the total Australian households. Furthermore, poverty was more prevalent among people in sole-parent householdssoles parents and people in single-person households without childrensingles without any children. As the data suggest, one out of five sole parents in Australia was destitute and it was the highest percentage of poverty among the given family types in 1999. The highesthigher number of people living in povertypoor family, however, was found among people in couples-with-children householdswere the couples with children accounting for 933,000 peopleapproximately one million households. Seven per cent of people in couples-without-children households7% couples without children, on the other hand, were living in povertynot affluent. Nineteen per cent of people in single-person households without children19% Single Australians without any child were living in povertyneedy while this proportion was lower among older peoplethis rate among the elder citizens was fewer - 6% of people in single-aged-person households6% single ages person and 4% of people in aged-couple households4% aged couple were poor and the corresponding totals were 54,000 and 48,000 people, respectivelythe total number of such families were 54,000 and 48,000 respectively.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response selects nearly all categories, highlights the highest proportions, and uses the figures to make relevant comparisons. Its main limitation is the repeated misidentification of the counts as families or households when the table reports people, alongside several agreement and noun-form errors. The highest priority is to preserve the table's units accurately and express comparisons in simpler, grammatically secure sentences.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response identifies the main proportional patterns and most figures, but repeatedly treats numbers of people as numbers of families or households.
State explicitly that the figures count people, and include the 12% rate for couples with children when discussing their largest absolute total.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically from an overview to the highest, middle, and lowest categories, although contrast markers are occasionally imprecise.
Divide the response into an overview and a detail paragraph, using 'whereas' or 'by contrast' only for genuinely paired comparisons.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary for poverty and comparison is varied, but overextended synonym use and errors such as 'soles parents' and 'single ages person' reduce precision.
Prefer the table's exact category labels and vary comparison verbs rather than repeatedly replacing the central term 'poverty'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are attempted successfully enough for meaning to remain clear, but agreement, articles, plurals, and comparative forms are frequently inaccurate.
Check noun number and verb agreement in every data statement, especially after percentages, collective categories, and phrases such as 'the number of'.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The table below shows the proportion of different categories of families living in poverty in Australia in 1999.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.