The chart below gives information about the age of women in Australia when they gave birth to their first child in 1966, 1986 and 2006.
Sample Response
The given graph presents data comparing the ages when women in Australia gave birth in the years 1966, 1986, and 2006. Overall, percentagesbirth rates for younger women fell while the proportion of women having their first childthe number of women having children later in life increased greatly. Women aged 30-34 became the largest group and the smallest proportions were recorded for womenthose with the fewest children were under 19 and over 40.
Looking first of all at younger women, both those under 19 and between 20 and 24 declined over the period. The first group started at around 33% in 1966 before falling to just over 20% in 1986 and ending at nearly 15% in 2006. The 20 to 24 group similarly halved from over 60% in 1966 (leading all ages then) to under 40% in 1986 and finishing at just above 30%.
Mothers aged 25 – 30 were the second-largest groupsecond highest demographic in 1966 (37%) before risingfluctuating to over 50% and back down to 42% by 2006. Women in the 30-34 age bracket increased more steadily from 12% to 19% and then surged to become the leader at 47%. 34–39-year-olds34 – 39 year olds generally mirrored this climb rising from 7% to 12% to 29%. In last position throughout werewas women aged 40+ whose proportion increased steadilywho increased in proportion steadily but still made up less than 5% of women giving birth for the first timetotal mothers.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response is well organised and gives a clear overview of the shift from younger to older first-time mothers, with detailed and generally accurate coverage of every age group. Its principal weakness is occasional imprecision in describing percentages as numbers of women, children, or shares of total mothers; the priority is to keep every comparison tied precisely to what the vertical scale represents while maintaining the strong selection of data.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The overview identifies the central age shift, and the detailed comparisons cover all six groups with generally accurate values.
Describe the figures consistently as percentages of women rather than as numbers of women, children, or proportions of all mothers.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is grouped effectively into younger and older cohorts, and progression within each paragraph is easy to follow.
Make the final comparison slightly more explicit by linking the sustained low rate for women over 40 to the other older groups.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and precise overall, with effective choices such as 'halved', 'fluctuating', 'surged', and 'mirrored'.
Replace potentially misleading phrases such as 'fewest children' with the exact measure shown, such as 'the lowest percentage'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of sentence forms is used accurately, with only isolated lapses such as 'was women aged 40+'.
Proofread subject-verb agreement in inverted structures, using 'were women aged 40+' in the final sentence.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart below gives information about the age of women in Australia when they gave birth to their first child in 1966, 1986 and 2006.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.