The chart below shows information about fuel used in the transport sector in different countries in Europe, compared to the EU average, in 2009 and 2010.
Sample Response
The tablebar chart provides data on the numbers of vehiclesquantity of fuel consumed by the transport sector in five vehicle categoriessix European nations, alongside the EU average, for the years 2010, 2012 and 2014for the years 2009 and 2010.
Overall, fuel consumption in this sector demonstrated a mixed trend, with four countries showing an increase while two, along with the EU average, recorded a decrease. It is also clear that the first passenger-vehicle category had the highest total in all three yearsSlovakia registered the highest fuel use in both years, whereas the final listed category consistently had the lowest totalGreece consistently had the lowest.
In 2009, Slovakia's transport sector used the most fuel, at approximately 8.9 units. Commercial vehicles (2.3 million)The EU average (6.0 units) and the third listed category (540,000)Austria (5.3 units) were the next highest. Following them, the fourth listed category stood at 384,000Italy's consumption stood at 4.5 units, which was higher than that of the final listed category, at 106,000both France and Spain, each at 3.8 units. Greece recorded the lowest usage, at just 1.3 units.
Regarding changes from 2010 to 2014Regarding the changes by 2010, a few entities saw a decline. The largest category rose from 11.8 million to 13 millionSlovakia's consumption fell significantly to 6.6 units, though it remained the highest. The other four categories also recorded higher totals in 2014The EU average and Spain also saw reductions, dropping to 5.0 and 3.0 units, respectively. In contrast, four countries increased their fuel use. Commercial vehicles rose from 2.3 million to 2.7 millionAustria's figure rose from 5.3 to 6.4 units, overtaking the EU average. Similarly, Italy, France, and Greece all experienced growth, with their consumption levels reaching 5.3, 4.3, and 2.0 units, respectively.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response is exceptionally clear and controlled, with logical paragraphing and fluent comparative language. Its decisive weakness is that every country, year, and fuel figure is unsupported by the attached visual, which instead presents vehicle totals for 2010, 2012, and 2014. The highest priority is to rebuild the report from the table itself, selecting its dominant row, overall growth pattern, and accurate changes.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response does not report any of the vehicle categories, years, totals, or percentage changes shown in the visual.
Rebuild the report around the 2010–2014 vehicle table, highlighting that every row increased and comparing the largest total with the fastest percentage growth.
Coherence and Cohesion
The introduction, overview, and two detail paragraphs form a highly logical progression with well-managed referencing and transitions.
Retain this clear overview-to-detail structure when reorganizing the content around the actual table.
Lexical Resource
The report uses varied, precise trend and comparison vocabulary with natural collocations throughout.
Use the exact labels from the visual so that the otherwise strong reporting vocabulary describes the correct subject matter.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex sentence forms is used accurately and fluently, with strong control of punctuation and agreement.
Preserve this grammatical control while varying a few repeated subject-led reporting structures in the factual paragraphs.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart below shows information about fuel used in the transport sector in different countries in Europe, compared to the EU average, in 2009 and 2010.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.