The graphs show changes in spending habits of people in the UK between 1971 and 2001.
Sample Response
The pie charts illustrate the changes in household spending in the UK between 1971 and 2001. It is clear that spending on petrolthe cost of petrol made up the largest proportion of the household spending in 1971 while expenditure on cars was the largest share of household spendingthe greatest share of the household spending in 2001. British people spentBritish spent more than one-third of their money on petrol and almost a third on furnitureto purchase furniture and a quarter in restaurantsfollowed by money spent in restaurants, which was precisely a quarter. The smallestleast proportion of expenditure was for computers, which accounted for 7% of total spending by British householdstotal expenses by Brits in 1971. After 30 years, British citizens spent significantly smaller proportionsless portion on petrol, furniture and restaurant mealsto buy petrol, furniture and restaurant meals : 8%, 8%, and 14%, respectively- 8%, 8%, 14% respectively. In comparison to 1971, they spent almost twice as much on computersnearly double on computers. The largest proportion of household spending was made on owningowing cars with more than 40% of total expendituremore than 40% total expenses. The proportion of expenditure on food was 14%. Finally, spending on books was considerably lowerfor books, it was considerably small, at only 1% of total spendingonly one percent of total costs in 2001.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response accurately identifies the dominant spending categories in both years and reports nearly all figures clearly, with a concise overview of the major shift from petrol to cars. Its main limitation is uneven language control, including awkward collocations and missing articles, while the single-block presentation weakens organisation slightly. Prioritise more natural quantity phrases and divide the overview from detailed comparisons.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and accurate coverage of virtually every category provide strong fulfilment of the task.
Make the comparison of computer spending more exact, since 12% is substantially higher than 7% but not quite double.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information progresses logically from the overview through 1971 and then 2001, although it is presented as one block.
Separate the overview and the two sets of details into purposeful paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is sufficiently varied for describing proportions and change, but several collocations are awkward or imprecise.
Use natural phrases such as a smaller proportion, spending on cars, and total expenditure.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the data clearly despite recurring article and noun-phrase errors.
Proofread articles, plural forms, and constructions such as British people spent and accounted for over 40% of total expenditure.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The graphs show changes in spending habits of people in the UK between 1971 and 2001.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.