The pie chart gives information on UAE government spending in 2000. The total budget was AED 315 billion.

Same questionCompare 3 different answers (Band 6–6.5)

Sample Response

1

The pie chart illustrates the expenditure of the UAE government from a total national budget of AED 315 billionfrom the national budget 315 billion AED in 2000. It also shows the spending categoriessegments of expenditure of the UAE governmentadministration in different sectors in the same year. At first glanceAt a first glance, it is clear thatit is crystal clear that biggest slice of the budget was allocated to social security, at AED 100 billiondevoted to social security, AED 100 billion. The UAE spent AED 53 billionUAE spent 53 billion on health and personal social services followed by education at AED 38 billionfollowed by education with 38 billion. However, the smallest allocationthe least amount of budget was spent on the transporttransportation system, AED 9 billion. Turning to the remaining categoriesMoving further, the chart shows thatit is vivid that debt interest and other expenditure each accounted for AED 23 billiondebt interest and other expenditure accounted for AED 23 billion of the budget. The expenditure of the UAE budget was 15 billion on housing heritage closely followed by industry, agriculture and employment with AED 13 billion. Overall, it can be deduced that the least amount of money was spent on transport while the highest amount on the social security by the UAE government in 2000.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 6.0

The response provides a clear overview of the largest and smallest allocations and accurately reports most of the chart’s figures. Its main limitation is incomplete and sometimes imprecise coverage: defence and law-and-order spending are omitted, while the two separate AED 23 billion categories are not clearly distinguished. Prioritise grouping and comparing all major allocations accurately before refining formulaic language and sentence control.

Band score breakdown

IELTS Writing Criteria Scores

TA

Task Achievement

6.5
Scoring rule

The highest and lowest sectors are clearly identified and most figures are accurate, but defence and law and order are omitted and the two AED 23 billion categories are ambiguously combined.

Next step

Include the missing AED 22 billion and AED 17 billion sectors and state explicitly that debt interest and other expenditure each received AED 23 billion.

CC

Coherence and Cohesion

6.0
Scoring rule

The description moves logically from major to smaller allocations, but it is presented as one paragraph and relies on mechanical transitions and a repeated overview.

Next step

Use an introduction, a concise overview, and grouped detail paragraphs that compare the largest allocations with the middle and smallest categories.

LR

Lexical Resource

6.0
Scoring rule

There is sufficient vocabulary for expenditure comparisons, though formulaic phrases and inaccurate collocations such as ‘it is vivid’ and ‘housing heritage’ reduce precision.

Next step

Use direct chart language, including ‘the chart shows’, ‘the allocation for’, and the full label ‘housing, heritage and environment’.

GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

6.0
Scoring rule

The response uses several complex structures, but recurring article omissions and incomplete comparison constructions reduce grammatical accuracy.

Next step

Add required articles and complete passive clauses, for example ‘the biggest slice’ and ‘the highest amount was spent on social security’.

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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

The pie chart gives information on UAE government spending in 2000. The total budget was AED 315 billion.

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