The pie charts below show responses by teachers of foreign languages in Britain to a survey concerning why their students are learning a foreign language. The first chart shows the main reason for learning a foreign language. The second chart shows how many teachers felt that there has been a recent change in the reason. % of teachers reporting the following as the most common reasons for learning: % of teachers reporting a recent increase in people learning for the following reasons:
Sample Response
The pie charts illustrate the survey results conducted in Britain to reveal the opinion of foreign languages teachers about their students’ motivation on attending their classes. The first chart shows the common factors that attract pupils to learn languages while the second chart displays the recent changes in those factors perceived by the teachers.
It can be clearly seen that there are seven categories which the teachers consider as the main reasons. They are - having a foreign partner, travel, business/work, buying properties overseas, general interest, social contacts and personal development.
To start with, based on teachers’ perceptions, business overseas trip and travelling were two domineering reasons for pupils to learn other languages. However, most of them agreed that there were different changes for both. More and more teachers thought that business purposes were the major reasons besides the others, but the percentage of those choosing travel as the main purpose fell dramatically from 33% to 3% of the total percentage.
Subsequently, there were 7 % of teachers who agreed that social contacts factor was the main reason, and it even doubled recently. On the other hand, even though 7 % of teachers considering personal development as one of the main reasons, 3 % of them agreed that it was not valid anymore. Thus, general interest and foreign partner which was thought as the minor factors has not changed at all. Interestingly, 15 % of teachers reporting that there were no changes for all of the categories which considered as the main reason for students to study a foreign language.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Fix survey noun phrase Original: survey results conducted in Britain Suggested revision: results of a survey conducted in Britain Why it matters: A survey is conducted, while its results are reported.
- 2. Use plural opinions Original: opinion Suggested revision: opinions Why it matters: The survey combines responses from multiple teachers.
- 3. Form compound modifier Original: foreign languages teachers Suggested revision: foreign-language teachers Why it matters: The singular hyphenated compound correctly modifies “teachers.”
- 4. Use correct preposition Original: motivation on attending Suggested revision: motivations for attending Why it matters: “Motivation for” is the natural collocation, and multiple students may have different motivations.
- 5. Fix consider construction Original: categories which the teachers consider as the main reasons Suggested revision: categories that teachers consider to be main reasons Why it matters: “Consider to be” is the correct structure in this clause.
- 6. Introduce list correctly Original: They are - Suggested revision: They are: Why it matters: A colon, rather than a spaced hyphen, properly introduces the list.
- 7. Match chart category Original: business overseas trip Suggested revision: business or work Why it matters: The chart category is business/work, not specifically overseas business travel.
- 8. Use correct adjective Original: domineering Suggested revision: dominant Why it matters: “Domineering” describes controlling behaviour, whereas “dominant” means most prominent.
- 9. Use task terminology Original: other languages Suggested revision: a foreign language Why it matters: This matches the subject of the survey more precisely.
- 10. Use direct reporting form Original: there were 7 % of teachers who agreed that Suggested revision: 7% of teachers reported that Why it matters: The existential structure is unnecessary, and no space precedes a percent sign.
- 11. Match category label Original: social contacts factor Suggested revision: social contact Why it matters: The chart labels the category “social contact.”
- 12. Interpret second chart correctly Original: it even doubled recently Suggested revision: 15% reported a recent increase for this reason Why it matters: The second figure is a separate percentage of teachers reporting an increase, not a doubling of the first share.
Suggested Rewrites
- survey results conducted in Britain results of a survey conducted in Britain
- opinion opinions
- foreign languages teachers foreign-language teachers
- motivation on attending motivations for attending
- categories which the teachers consider as the main reasons categories that teachers consider to be main reasons
- They are - They are:
Why this response received Band 5.5
The response identifies several categories and reports some individual percentages, but it misinterprets the second chart as a later version of the first. This leads to unsupported claims that travel fell from 33% to 3%, social contact doubled, and some reasons became invalid, while the largest reported recent increase—buying property overseas at 34%—is omitted. Prioritise defining each chart’s distinct measure before making comparisons.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
Some categories and values are identified, but the two distinct survey measures are conflated and several key features are omitted or misrepresented.
Describe the first chart as main reasons and the second as teachers reporting recent increases, without treating them as before-and-after data.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response has a visible introduction and grouped body paragraphs, but faulty comparisons and unclear references disrupt the logical progression.
Organise one detail paragraph around the main-reason distribution and another around the separate recent-increase responses.
Lexical Resource
There is some topic vocabulary and attempted variation, but frequent inaccurate choices such as ‘domineering’ and ‘not valid anymore’ distort meaning.
Use precise survey language including ‘most common reason’, ‘teachers reported an increase’, ‘largest share’, and ‘smallest proportion’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Frequent errors in clause formation, agreement, articles, prepositions, and verb forms make several statements difficult to follow.
Build complete sentences around a clear subject and reporting verb, then check agreement between percentages, teachers, reasons, and verbs.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The pie charts below show responses by teachers of foreign languages in Britain to a survey concerning why their students are learning a foreign language. The first chart shows the main reason for learning a foreign language. The second chart shows how many teachers felt that there has been a recent change in the reason. % of teachers reporting the following as the most common reasons for learning: % of teachers reporting a recent increase in people learning for the following reasons:
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.