The chart shows the proportion of people in a UK survey carried out in three different years who said they were interested in certain sports.
Sample Response
The bar chart shows the percentage of UK residents interested in six different sports across three yearsin six different sports, in three years (1995, 2000 and 2005).
It is clear that walking was by far the most popular physical activity in all three survey yearsin all surveyed years, while golf was the least popular of the six activitiesthe least popular activity. Additionally, the percentages of people interested in walking, swimming and rugbypeople who enjoyed walking, swimming and rugby increased, whereas the figures for those interested in snooker, tennis and golfthose who enjoyed other sports decreased overall between 1995 and 2005over the measured years.
In 1995, walking was the most popular activity, attracting interest from about 40% of the survey participantschosen by 40% of the survey participants, while interest in snooker and tennis stood at around 30%playing snooker and tennis accounted for around 30%. In contrast, about 23% of people chose swimming, while only 18% said they were interested in golf. Meanwhile, approximately 25% of survey respondents said they were interested in rugbychose rugby as their preferred sport.
In 2005, interest in walking rose slightlyslightly more people preferred walking, with its figure rising to about 44%with the figure rising to just under 45%, while the figures for tennis and snooker declinedbut there was a significant decline in the figures for tennis and snooker, to about 22% for tennis and 23% for snookerto about 22% each. The figures for golf remained the same, at around 15%, as opposed to the figures for swimming and rugby, which experienced considerable gains in popularity to over 25% each.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response gives a clear overview and makes effective, mostly accurate comparisons between the starting and ending years, supported by varied vocabulary and well-controlled complex sentences. The central limitation is incomplete task coverage: the 2000 results are almost entirely omitted, and golf is inaccurately described as unchanged. Add a concise comparison of the middle year and verify every trend statement against all three bars.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and relevant comparisons for 1995 and 2005 are provided, but the 2000 data are omitted and the claim that golf remained unchanged is inaccurate.
Include the 2000 figures, highlighting swimming's peak and rugby's low point, and verify the golf trend across all three years.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically from overview to detailed comparisons, with well-controlled paragraphing and cohesive links despite the missing middle-year detail.
Organize the two detail paragraphs around rising and falling sports so all three years can be integrated more evenly.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a varied and generally precise range of trend and comparison vocabulary, with only minor repetition and occasional imprecision.
Maintain this range while distinguishing carefully between being interested in a sport and choosing it as a preferred activity.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex comparative structures is used accurately, and nearly all sentences are error-free and easy to follow.
Refine minor punctuation and attachment choices, especially unnecessary commas and long final clauses, to make the syntax even cleaner.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart shows the proportion of people in a UK survey carried out in three different years who said they were interested in certain sports.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.