Two charts below show the percentage of qualified graduates in a particular country.
Sample Response
The pie charts compare the proportionsdistribution of graduates across six qualification types in 1980 and 2008. Overall, the data reveal a clear shiftpronounced gravitation towards advanced science credentials, with doctoral science qualifications commanding the largest share of graduates in both 1980 and 2008, while PhDs in the arts represented the smallest sharelingered at the lower end of the spectrum.
In 1980, master’s degrees in science was the largest categorydominated the landscape at 29%, followedtrailing by first-class honours in the arts at 25% and first degrees in science at 19%. Science doctorates constituted 13% of the cohort, master’s degrees in the arts 12%master’s arts 12%, and arts doctorates formed the smallest segmentdoctoral arts the smallest segment at 2%at a mere 2%.
By 2008, the proportion of graduates with PhDs in sciencethe proportion of PhD graduates in science rosehad surged to 30%, making it the largest category, while master’s degrees in science remained steadymaster’s science remained steady at 29%. Arts doctorates also increasedDoctoral arts also increased, from 2% to 7%, and master’s degrees in the arts edged up slightlymaster’s arts edged up slightly to 13%. In contrast, the proportions with first degrees declined notablyfirst degrees saw notable declines: arts fell from 25% to 11% and science from 19% to 10%. These trends indicate a clear movement toward postgraduate and research-oriented science qualifications over the period.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response is strongest in its complete numerical coverage and clear organisation of changes between the two years. Its principal weakness is the inaccurate overview claim that science doctorates were the largest category in both years, which conflicts with the later, correct statement that science master’s degrees led in 1980; some phrasing is also overly ornate. Correcting that overview and favouring more natural comparative wording should be the first priority.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All six categories and their changes are reported accurately in the detail, but the overview incorrectly states that science doctorates were largest in 1980 as well as 2008.
State that science master’s degrees led in 1980 before science doctorates became the largest category in 2008.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is clearly divided into an overview and chronological detail paragraphs, with smooth progression and effective referencing.
Ensure the overview and supporting paragraph express the same key comparison so the logical message remains fully consistent.
Lexical Resource
The response displays broad topic vocabulary, but expressions such as pronounced gravitation, commanding the largest share, and trailing by are occasionally strained or imprecise.
Prefer direct chart language such as shifted towards, represented the largest share, and followed by.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is handled accurately, and sentence boundaries, agreement, and punctuation are consistently secure.
Keep the same grammatical control while simplifying densely modified sentences where a more direct structure would improve readability.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
Two charts below show the percentage of qualified graduates in a particular country.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.