The chart below shows the total number of minutes (in billions) of telephone calls in the UK, divided into three categories, from 1995-2002.
Sample Response
The bar chart illustrates annual total durationannual duration of phone calls (in billions of minutesin billion minutes) made by British people in three different categories between 1995 and 20022005. In general, local fixed-line calls werelocal fixed-line was the most popular type of telephone used by people living in the UK over the period and mobile-call usage increased steadilycell phone gained its popularity steadily. More than 70 billion minutes were made by people in the United Kingdomwere utilised by United Kingdom’s citizens to communicate with each othercommunicate each other via local fixed linesthrough local fixed-line over those years and that was the highest total call durationhighest total number of minutes talked. Local fixed-line callsThe use of local fixed-line reached a peak in 1999, at 90 billion minutes before falling by around 18 billion minutes in the next three years. MeanwhileOn the other hand, although the number of minutes spent on mobile callsthe minutes of mobile phones were not as many as those for national and international fixed-line callsthose of national and international - fixed line, this type of communication showed an upward trendhad upward trends over timeover the time. While national and international fixed-line calls started atnational and international - fixed line started roughly 38 billion minutes and then increased by approximately 22 billion by the end of the periodat the end of the year, mobile calls totalled about 3 billion minutescell phones had about 3 billion minutes in 1995 and then rose significantly until reaching a peak ofto just under 50 billion in 2002.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response's strongest feature is its clear overview of local calls as dominant and mobile calls as the fastest-growing category, supported by several relevant figures. The main limitation is precision: the period is incorrectly extended to 2005, and some endpoints and time references are misstated or vague. The highest-priority improvement is to verify the axis dates and report each category's start, peak, and final value accurately.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The main trends and most important local-call figures are covered, but the stated date range and some mobile and fixed-line details are inaccurate.
Use the correct 1995-2002 period and give accurate starting and ending values for all three categories.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information follows a sensible progression from overview to local calls and then the two rising categories, though the single paragraph and long final sentence limit clarity.
Use separate detail paragraphs for local calls and the two growth categories, with shorter comparative sentences.
Lexical Resource
There is adequate trend vocabulary, but repeated awkward collocations such as "minutes talked" and "had upward trends" weaken precision.
Use natural data language such as "call duration," "rose steadily," "peaked at," and "ended at."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied clause structures, but article, preposition, agreement, and comparison errors occur regularly while meaning remains clear.
Proofread verb-preposition patterns and quantity comparisons, especially "communicate with," "started at," and "fewer minutes than."
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart below shows the total number of minutes (in billions) of telephone calls in the UK, divided into three categories, from 1995-2002.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.