The chart below shows the internet users (in millions) in different countries in the Middle East as of June 2017.
Sample Response
The bar chart showsoutlines the number of internet users in nine Middle EasternMiddle-Eastern countries as of June 2017. A glance at the bar chart reveals that Iran by far had the highest internet users while it was the lowest in Lebanon. The chart shows thatThe diagram outlines that, 56.7 millionmore than 56 million people in Iran used the internetIranian citizens were connected to the internet in June 2017. In June 2017During that time, Saudi Arabia had the second-largestsecond largest number of internet usersnetzines, citizens who use the internet, with just over 24 million internet userswhere more than 24 million citizens had access to the internet. Iraq, with exactly 14 million internet users,Iraq with exactly 14 million internet subscribers was a distant thirdin the distant third while the corresponding figure for the United Arab Emiratesthis number in the United Arab Emirates was 8.52 millionroughly eight and a half million. The numbers of internet usersThe numbers of citizens who had internet connections in Deletecountries like Yemen, Israel, Jordan and Syria were approximately six millionsomewhat 6 million in each country. Finally, with the least number of internet users (4.6 million only) Lebanon stood at the bottom of the list.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response gives a concise, accurate account of all nine countries, with a clear overview of the highest and lowest figures and sensible grouping of the four countries near six million. Its main limitation is linguistic polish: a few awkward word choices and sentence constructions weaken precision, and the lack of paragraphing compresses the presentation. Prioritise a separate overview and more natural comparative phrasing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response accurately identifies the extremes, reports the main intermediate figures, and groups the four similarly sized countries effectively.
Refine the overview by also highlighting the substantial gap between Iran and every other country.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ranking and grouping create a clear logical sequence, although presenting the entire response as one paragraph limits structural clarity.
Place the overview in its own paragraph and group the detailed figures into higher- and lower-use countries.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and mostly precise, but 'netzines', 'highest internet users', and 'somewhat 6 million' are inaccurate or unnatural choices.
Use established expressions such as 'internet users', 'the highest number of users', and 'approximately six million'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response handles several complex comparisons successfully, with occasional errors in relative clauses, punctuation, and noun phrasing that do not impede meaning.
Check clause connections and remove unnecessary commas, especially in sentences introducing Saudi Arabia and Iran's figures.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart below shows the internet users (in millions) in different countries in the Middle East as of June 2017.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.