The chart below shows information about changes in average house prices in five different cities between 1990 and 2002 compared with the average house prices in 1989.
Sample Response
The bar chartThe diagram illustrates the average percentage change in house pricesmean variation in the price of a house in five citiesfive various cities compared with 1989 levelswhen compared with that in 1989 across the periods 1990–1995 and 1996–2002in a period of 12 years from the year 1990. Overall, it is clearly shown that the majority of these five citiesthat majority of these five cities had house prices below 1989 levels from 1990 to 1995their house prices lower from 1990 to 1995 than that in the year 1989 whereas all cities recorded a higher percentage changeall cities showed an upward trend in the average house prices in 1996–2002 than in 1990–1995, except Frankfurtbetween the years 1996 and 2002 except Frankfurt.
First and foremost, the house prices in Tokyo were below 1989 levels throughoutwere lower than that in the year 1989 throughout the given period. However, there was a rise in the house prices from 1996 to 2002 than from 1990 to 1995 (-5% and approximately -7% respectively) which was comparatively lower than that in 1989. Furthermore, every city recorded a higher percentage change in 1996–2002every city had its house prices rising over the period except Frankfurt in Germany which recorded an increase of about 1%which showed a slight drop of about 1%.
Interestingly, London was the city that had the largest variation in house prices among the five cities from 1990 to 2002 in comparison with that in 1989 (around 19% in total). There was a larger change between the two periodsbigger fluctuation in house prices in New York than in Madrid in Spain (10 percentage points and about 2 percentage points10% and nearly 5% respectivelycorrespondingly).
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response is logically organised and offers an effective overview, correctly highlighting the general improvement in the second period, Frankfurt's exception, and London's largest change. Its main limitation is uneven numerical coverage, with the Frankfurt and Madrid changes reported inaccurately or ambiguously and several cities lacking precise figures. The strongest improvement would be to verify change amounts and compare both periods systematically for all five cities.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The overview captures the main pattern and London's standout movement, but some figures are inaccurate or ambiguous and coverage of the cities is uneven.
Report both period values more systematically and distinguish Frankfurt's two-point fall from its final value of about one percent.
Coherence and Cohesion
Clear paragraphing and a generally logical sequence support progression, though some comparisons repeat the overview and the final grouping is incomplete.
Organise the details into one group for falling first-period figures and another for the positive second-period figures.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a sufficient range for comparison, but terms such as diagram, fluctuation, and variation are sometimes applied imprecisely.
Prefer exact chart language such as percentage change, rose from, and percentage points when comparing the two periods.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses both simple and complex sentences with generally clear meaning, but awkward comparative structures and occasional article errors remain noticeable.
Revise comparisons into controlled forms such as prices rose from minus seven percent to minus five percent.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart below shows information about changes in average house prices in five different cities between 1990 and 2002 compared with the average house prices in 1989.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.