The graph below shows UK air pollutants in millions of tonnes, from three different sources, between 1990 and 2005.
Sample Response
The line graph compares the quantity of pollutants emittedamount of emissions released into the air from three different sourcesbetween 1990 and 2005, between 1990 and 2005.
Overall, the total amountnumber of air pollutants gradually declined over the period shown. While the figures for industry and households decreased over the period, the figure for transport increasedthe figures for transport saw an increase.
In 1990, a total of nearly 8 million tonnes of air contaminants were emitted from the three sourcesthree mentioned sources, with the largest figure belonging to industry, at 6 million tonnes. The amounts of pollutants from transport and households wereThe amount of pollutants due to transport and households were the same, at approximately 1 million tonnes each.
The total number of pollutants discharged into the air gradually reduced over the next fifteen years, with the total figure declining to about 5 million tonnes by 2005. In addition, air pollutants from industrial activity also decreased over time, from just under 6 million tonnes in 1990 to about 2 million tonnes in 2005. Despite the figures for households and transport being equal at the beginning of the period, the quantity of air pollutants from transport saw a substantial increase to nearly 3 million tonnessmall increase to 3 million tonnes by 2005, while air pollutants from households experienced a drop to a negligible amount.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response is clear, well organised, and linguistically controlled, with an accurate overview of the overall decline and the contrasting source trends. Its main limitation is that the analysis relies heavily on the starting and ending years, leaving intermediate movements largely unselected. The best improvement would be to add one or two meaningful mid-period comparisons, especially the transport-industry convergence in 2002, while retaining the same concise style.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response accurately identifies the principal trends and supports them with appropriate start and end values, though intermediate features receive little attention.
Include a significant mid-period feature, such as industry and transport meeting at about 2.5 million tonnes in 2002.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically through a clear overview and well-focused detail paragraphs, with cohesive devices used effectively.
Refine the final paragraph by grouping the total and industrial declines before contrasting the two smaller sources even more directly.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and precise, with flexible use of terms for emissions, quantities, and change.
Reduce minor repetition of air pollutants by alternating accurately with emissions or figures where the reference remains clear.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex sentence structures is handled accurately, and errors are rare and non-impeding.
Maintain this control while tightening occasional long sentences so each comparison is expressed as directly as possible.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The graph below shows UK air pollutants in millions of tonnes, from three different sources, between 1990 and 2005.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.