The graph below shows radio and television audiences throughout the day in 1992.
Sample Response
The blue graph shows the television audiences throughout the day. It shows that the percentage of the population watching televisionpercentage of audiences is three percent in the early morningin early morning but it gradually rises tounto ten percent at 8:00 am and remains at roughly the same levelmaintains the same for the next two hours. There is a slight fall in percentage over the next two hoursin next two hours however, after thathowever after that it rises sharplyraises sharp tounto twenty percent within the next two hours. After this the graph rises sharplyrises very fast and attains its peak at 10 pm which is about forty five percent. The graph gradually fallsfalls down and at 2:00 am it is at five percent. The red graph shows the percentage of the population listening to radiopercentage for radio audiences. Unlike the television audience figureUnlike the television one the peak percentage of the population listening to radiopercentage of the radio audiences is at 8:00 am which is about 2530 percent. Then it gradually falls and it intersects the television linecorresponds with the television one at about 1 pmat two pm. After that it gradually falls but with a small increase in percentage at 4:30 to 6:00 pm. The percentage of audience then gradually goes down and at four AM it is the lowest which is near 2 percent. These graphs prove the progressive popularity of television.
Why this response received Band 5.5
The response identifies the contrasting morning radio peak and evening television peak, and its sequence is generally understandable. Its main weakness is Task Achievement: several times and percentages are inaccurate, the overview is unclear, and the final claim about television's progressive popularity is unsupported; the highest priority is to state the two dominant trends accurately and check every selected figure against the graph.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response covers both series and some key peaks, but it lacks a clear overview and includes several inaccurate readings and an unsupported conclusion.
State the overall contrast between radio's morning peak and television's evening dominance, then verify the times and percentages used as support.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information follows a broadly chronological sequence, although the single paragraph and repetitive progression markers make the organization mechanical.
Use a separate overview and group the detailed comparisons into clear radio and television trend paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
There is enough trend vocabulary to describe the graph, but repetition and inaccurate choices such as 'raises sharp' and 'progressive popularity' limit precision.
Use precise forms and collocations such as 'rises sharply,' 'falls gradually,' and 'audience share,' while avoiding unsupported evaluative wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and longer sentences communicates the main meaning, but errors with articles, prepositions, word forms, and punctuation recur.
Check each sentence for correct verb forms, articles, and clause punctuation, especially around contrast words such as 'however.'
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The graph below shows radio and television audiences throughout the day in 1992.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.