The chart below shows the percentage of male and female teachers in six different types of educational setting in the UK in 2010.
Sample Response
A glance at the bar chart showscolumn graph reveals the proportions of male and female teachersproportions of men and women teaching in six different educational settingssix various academic institutions in the United Kingdom in 2010.
Overall, what stands out from the chart is that female teachers were significantly more likely to teach in earlier stages of educationearlier grades, while the higher the level of education, the higher the proportion of male teachersthe more male teachers dominated. However, the proportions of male and female teachersratio of lecturers of both sexes was equal at the college level.
Turning to the details, by far the highest percentage of nursery or pre-school teachers were womeneducators found in the nursery were females at 95%, as opposed to 5% of males0.5% of males. Similarly, women comprised 90% of primary school teachersthe majority of primary school teachers were women (90%) compared with 10% for mencompared to 10% of men. At the secondary level, the proportions of female and male teachersnumbers of female and male schoolteachers were 55% and 45% respectivelydiffered slightly, at 55% and 45% respectively.
In stark contrast, the number of male employees outnumbered their female colleagues in tertiary education. In universities, 70% of the teaching staff were male, while women made up 30% of the total. There were also fewer female teacherspedagogues (42%) than male ones (58%) in private training institutesprivate institutions. It is noteworthy that the proportions of male and female teachersproportion of mentors from both genders in colleges were equal at 50% eachwas the same at 50%.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response is well organised, with a clear overview and accurate comparisons across nearly all six settings. The principal weakness is precision: the nursery male figure is reported as 0.5% rather than 5%, while occupational labels such as ‘employees’, ‘pedagogues’, and ‘mentors’ are less exact than ‘teachers’. Prioritise checking every numerical label and using consistent terminology drawn from the chart.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The overview identifies the central gender pattern and the report covers all six settings, with one substantial decimal error in the nursery figure.
Check each percentage directly against the vertical scale before finalising the report, particularly small values near zero.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas are logically sequenced through a clear introduction, overview, and two well-grouped detail paragraphs, making the report easy to follow.
For an even tighter progression, keep the equal college figures with the surrounding transition between female- and male-dominated settings.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally precise, although some substituted occupational terms are less accurate or natural than the chart’s word ‘teachers’.
Maintain lexical variety through comparison verbs and modifiers while using ‘teachers’ consistently for the people represented.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a broad range of complex structures with generally good control, despite occasional agreement and construction problems.
Review subject–verb agreement in percentage phrases and avoid constructions such as ‘the number … outnumbered’.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart below shows the percentage of male and female teachers in six different types of educational setting in the UK in 2010.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.