The graph gives information about drinking habits of the US population by age.
Sample Response
The bar graph outlines the drinking habits of Americans based on their age groups. As can be seen, US citizens’ drinking patterns vary greatlydrinking pattern greatly varies based on their age and olderelder population over 65 years mostly abstain from drinking. According to the diagram, 60% of US citizens60% US citizens between 16 andto 24 years old have never consumed alcoholhave never been on alcohol while roughly 10% of them used to drink but now are abstainers. Around one-quarter of these young Americans are light drinkerslight-drinkers while the remaining 5% drink heavilywhile remaining 5% drinks heavily. A similar pattern could be observed among the 25–34-year-old age group25-34 years age group but with an increasing ratio of irregular drinkers and almost 8% hard drinker. It is interesting to note that chronic alcoholics in the US are highest between 35-54 years population and this ratio is lower among the younger and senior citizens. The proportionrate of people who have never consumed alcoholnever have had alcohol generally declines with agedeclines with the increase of age and the proportion of ex-drinkers generally rises with age, especially after age 54a reverse trend could be observed for the ex-drinkers whose proportion hikes as people get older. The highest proportion of heavy drinkersratio of hard drinkers is highest in the 45–54 age groupfalls between 45-54 years age group and the proportion of light drinkers is highestthe light drinkers is highest among the 25–34-year-old Americans25-34 years old Americans. Finally, an overwhelming number of US population, almost 40%, quit drinking when they are over 64 years old.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response identifies the main age-related patterns and several notable highs, with generally clear progression through the groups. Its main weakness is imprecise reporting: some trends are overstated as continuous, and terms such as irregular drinkers and chronic alcoholics do not accurately match the chart categories. Prioritise exact category labels and qualify trends when the figures fluctuate rather than move steadily.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and several accurate comparisons cover the main patterns, although the claims that never-drinking steadily declines and ex-drinking steadily rises overlook fluctuations in the chart.
Use the chart's exact categories and describe overall tendencies with qualifications where adjacent age groups depart from the trend.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information follows a sensible age-group progression and uses comparison signals effectively, but presenting the entire report as one paragraph weakens structural clarity.
Separate the overview from the detailed comparisons and group related age bands into two focused body paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a reasonably varied range for trends and proportions, though several choices such as irregular drinkers, chronic alcoholics, and never been on alcohol are inaccurate or unnatural.
Prefer precise neutral chart language such as ex-drinkers, heavy drinkers, and people who have never consumed alcohol.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the data clearly, but recurring article, agreement, plural, and preposition errors reduce control.
Proofread noun phrases and subject-verb agreement, especially forms such as 60% of US citizens, the remaining 5%, and light drinkers are.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The graph gives information about drinking habits of the US population by age.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.