The three pie charts below show the changes in annual spending by a particular UK school in 1981, 1991 and 2001.
Sample Response
The supplied pie charts compare the annual expenditure of a schoolspending made by a school in the UK for the yearsthree respective years which are 1981, 1991, and 2001. Overall, the teachers’ salariessalaries for teachers remained the largest share of spendinghighest portion in spending while insurance was the smallest expensethe least expenses throughout the 20-year periodover the 20-year time frame. Based on the pie charts, aforementioned, teachers’ salaries constituted the highest percentages of the school cost which were 40%, 50%, and 45% for 1981, 1991, and 2001 chronologically. The expenses on resources such as books followed the trend of teachers’ salaries, went up in 1991 and dropped in 2001. In 2001, this expenditure stood at 9%. As for the other workers’ salary which was 28% in 1998, showed a dramatic drop to 15% in 2001. It is interesting to note that spending on furniture and equipmentthe percentage of furniture and equipment in 2001 exceeded the share spent on other workers’ salariesovertook the percentage of other workers’ salaries and it rose significantly in 2001it showed a significant rise in 2001 aftereven though it fell slightlyexperienced a slight drop in 1991. This figurecost was 5% in 1991 and 23% in 2001. On the other hand, insurance accounted for the minimum percentage of expenditure over the time frame with 32% in 1991 and 8% in 2001.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response gives a clear overview and covers all five spending categories, with generally accurate reporting of the most important changes. Its main weakness is precision: two years are misreported, some supporting figures are omitted, and several comparisons are expressed awkwardly. The highest-priority improvement is to check every date and percentage against the charts, then organise the details into clearer comparative groups.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview identifies the largest and smallest categories, and all categories are covered, but the response misstates two years and omits several useful figures.
Verify every year and value against the charts and support each major trend with accurate beginning, middle, and ending data where relevant.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information progresses from the overview through the spending categories, but the single-block presentation and some loosely connected clauses weaken organisation.
Separate the overview from two logically grouped detail paragraphs and use explicit comparisons to connect related categories.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a sufficient range for describing proportions and change, although several collocations and references are imprecise or unnatural.
Use more natural combinations such as 'accounted for the largest share' and choose precise category labels consistently.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the main meaning, but faulty clause construction, agreement, and punctuation recur.
Check that each comparison has a complete subject and finite verb, especially in sentences beginning with phrases such as 'As for'.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The three pie charts below show the changes in annual spending by a particular UK school in 1981, 1991 and 2001.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.