The table below shows the percentage use of four different fuel types to generate electricity in five Asian countries in 2005.
Sample Response
The table shows different fuel sourcesdifferent sources of fuel for producing electricity and their percentage use in five Asian countries in 2005. Generally, the five countries showed significant differencesa significant difference in their electricity-generation mixespatterns of consumption. Turning first to nuclear powerTaking nuclear fuel first, Japan had the highest percentage at 49%, with South Korea second at 33%. In marked contrast, Thailand used no nuclear power at all. Turning to Coal and Lignite, Malaysia and Singapore used this to generate a large proportion of their electricity (61% and 42% respectively), a much higher percentage than the remaining countries. Regarding petroleumPetroleum products, Thailand produced 36% of its electricity from this source. In comparison, the other countries only generated 3% or less of their electricity from this fuel. However, Hydro and Wind reveal another pattern with South Korea producing almost half of its electricity (48%) this way (over twice as high as Thailand which had the second highest percentage at 19%). Finally, other sources accounted for substantial sharesa significant amount was produced from other sources with three countries (Singapore, Thailand and Japan) generating around 40% of their electricity from other fuels. Overall, it can be seen that there was a significant variation in which fuels countries used to generate their electricity.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response is strongest in its accurate, well-selected comparisons across all five fuel categories, supported by precise figures from the table. Its main limitation is an overly general overview, compounded by presenting the entire report as one paragraph. The highest-priority improvement is to state the dominant country-and-fuel patterns explicitly in the overview and group related details into clear body paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The report accurately selects the leading values and contrasts for every fuel category, but its overview identifies variation without specifying the main patterns.
Summarize the dominant sources by country, highlighting coal and lignite in Malaysia and Singapore, nuclear power in Japan, and hydro and wind in South Korea.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information follows a clear fuel-by-fuel sequence and cohesive markers guide the reader, but the single-paragraph presentation weakens the report's structure.
Separate the overview from two logically grouped detail paragraphs so that related fuel patterns are easier to follow.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied, precise, and well suited to quantitative comparison, with only minor lapses in capitalization and phrasing.
Refine small stylistic details by keeping category names consistently lower case within sentences and avoiding repeated general terms such as significant.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a wide range of complex structures with strong control and only occasional minor awkwardness.
Polish long comparative sentences by using cleaner clause boundaries and unambiguous reference words.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The table below shows the percentage use of four different fuel types to generate electricity in five Asian countries in 2005.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.