The graphs show changes in spending habits of people in UK between 1971 and 2001.
Sample Response
The pie charts show changes in UK spending patterns between 1971 and 2001between 1971 and 30 years later, 2001.
As an overall trend, increased amounts of money spent on cars, computers and eating out were made up for by drops in expenditure on food and books.
In detail, food and carscar made up the two biggest itemsitem of expenditure in both years. Together they comprised over half of household spending in the UK. Food accounted for 44% of spending in 1971, but this dropped by two thirds to 14% in 2001. However, the outlay on cars nearly doubled, rising from 22% in 1971 to 43% in 2001doubled, rising from 22% in 1971 to 43% in 2001.
Other areas changed significantly. Spending on spending at restaurants doubledeating out dou bled, climbing from 7% to 14%. The proportion of spending allocated to computersproportion of salary spent on computers increased dramatically, up from 2% in 1971 to 12% in 2001. However, as computer expenditure rose, the percentage of outlay on books plunged from 6% to 1%.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response gives a clear, selective, and highly accurate account of the main spending changes, supported by well-chosen figures and confident comparative language. Its main limitation is that petrol and furniture are omitted, leaving the smaller stable or slightly declining categories unrepresented. For a more complete report, briefly group those two categories together while retaining the concise overview and focused comparisons.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and accurate figures cover the dominant changes, although petrol and furniture are omitted.
Add one grouped sentence noting that petrol fell from 10% to 8% and furniture from 9% to 8%.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically from the overall trend to the largest categories and then the remaining major changes.
Link the final details explicitly to the overview so the grouping of rising and falling categories is even more apparent.
Lexical Resource
A wide and precise range, including expenditure, outlay, accounted for, and plunged, conveys the trends effectively.
Correct the split spelling of doubled and use accurate plural forms such as the two biggest items of expenditure.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied complex structures are handled with strong control, and the few errors do not impede communication.
Refine agreement and number in the phrase food and cars made up the two biggest items of expenditure.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The graphs show changes in spending habits of people in UK between 1971 and 2001.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.