The pie charts below show the percentage of five kinds of books sold by a bookseller between 1972 and 2012.
Sample Response
The pie charts illustrate how the sales of various genres of booksbook at a store changed in three given years. Overall, adult and children’s fictionfiction works for both adults and children grew in popularity over time, whereas sales of biographies and travel books declinedthe opposite happened to biography and travel books. In addition, adult fiction was the best-selling categoryadults’ fiction were sold the most by 2012, the final year.
In 1972, biographies, adult fictionadults’ fiction stories, and children’s fictiontheir counterparts for children were equally popular, with 20% for each category. Fewer travel books were sold in comparison, accounting for 15% of aggregate book sales, while the remaining 25% were made up of other miscellaneous genres. Twenty years later, the share of adult fiction books purchased at the store grew to become the highest, with 25%. This was followed by the levels for children’s fictionchildren’s fantasy stories, travel books and biographies, with 22%, 18% and 15%, respectively.
In 2012, fiction works for adults remained the most popular genreremained as the most popular genre at the bookshop, as they accounted for nearly half of all book purchases that year. The second-highest figure belonged to children’s fiction, at 25%children’s fantasy, with 25%, which was more than twice the percentage of travel books, and three times that for biographies. The proportion of all other genres combined, meanwhile, was 12%.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response gives a clear overview and accurately selects most of the important trends and figures, with particularly effective comparisons in the final year. Its main limitation is that the 1992 description omits the other-books category, while a few awkward noun choices and agreement slips reduce linguistic precision. The priority is to ensure each chart is represented by all strategically important categories and to proofread noun forms and subject-verb agreement.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and accurate coverage of the principal changes are supported by well-selected figures and comparisons.
Include the omitted 20% share for other books in 1992 to make coverage of the middle chart fully balanced.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response progresses logically from the overview through the three years, with cohesive devices used naturally and effectively.
Make the transition into the 1992 figures slightly more explicit so the chronological structure remains immediately clear.
Lexical Resource
A varied and generally precise range describes proportions, rankings, and changes, though a few expressions sound awkward.
Prefer natural category labels such as adult fiction and children's fiction instead of phrases like fiction works or levels for stories.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex and simple structures are handled with strong control, and the few errors do not impede meaning.
Proofread agreement and noun forms, especially constructions such as adults' fiction were and genres of book.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The pie charts below show the percentage of five kinds of books sold by a bookseller between 1972 and 2012.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.