The tables below give information about sales of Fairtrade*-labelled coffee and bananas in 1999 and 2004 in five European countries. Sales of Fairtrade-labelled coffee and bananas (1999 & 2004) *Fairtrade: a category of products for which farmers from developing countries have been paid an officially agreed fair price.
Sample Response
The tables compare sales of two categories of products, namely: fair-trade-labelled coffee and Fairtrade-labelled bananas in five European countries in two different terms, 1999 and 2004. These coffees and bananas were produced by farmers of developing nations and a fair price is given to those farmers according to the agreement and that’s why the name Fairtrade is attached.
Overall, it is clear that majority of the countries experienced an increased sales of those products and the biggest rise in sales were in the UK and Switzerland respectively. In 1999, the largest coffee sale, 3 million Euros, was in Switzerland but after five years, the highest sale could be observed in the UK (20 million Euros) that recorded more than three times higher than that of Switzerland (6 million Euros). The sales amounts in Denmark, Belgium and Sweden were 1.8, 1 and 0.8 million Euros respectively in 1999 and these amounts increased in five years.
Meanwhile, Switzerland was the largest market for the Fairtrade-labelled banana sales with 15 million Euros sold in 1999 which was higher than the combined sales in other four countries. The sales amount of bananas reached to 47 million Euros in 2004 which was more than three times higher than that of 1999 and the second largest market for this product was in the UK where 1 million Euros was sold in 1999 and that increased by 5.5 times in 2004. Interestingly the sales volume of the fairtrade bananas decreased in Sweden and Denmark in 2004 than that of 1999.
The lowest amount of sales for Fairtrade-labelled coffee could be seen in Sweden and it was Denmark and Sweden where the lowest amount of Fairtrade-labelled bananas were sold in both years.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Replace the colon Original: namely: Suggested revision: namely, Why it matters: Namely is followed by a comma when it introduces items within this sentence.
- 2. Use consistent term Original: fair-trade-labelled Suggested revision: Fairtrade-labelled Why it matters: This matches the product label used in the task and elsewhere in the response.
- 3. Refer to years Original: terms Suggested revision: years Why it matters: Terms does not accurately describe the two dates in the tables.
- 4. Use collective noun Original: These coffees and bananas Suggested revision: These products Why it matters: Products is more precise because coffee is normally uncountable in this context.
- 5. Use natural preposition Original: farmers of developing nations Suggested revision: farmers in developing countries Why it matters: This is the natural expression for the farmers' location.
- 6. Use paid Original: given Suggested revision: paid Why it matters: Prices are paid rather than given in this context.
- 7. Add the article Original: that majority Suggested revision: that the majority Why it matters: Majority requires the definite article in this construction.
- 8. Remove wrong article Original: an increased sales Suggested revision: increased sales Why it matters: The plural noun sales cannot take the singular article an.
- 9. Fix agreement Original: the biggest rise in sales were Suggested revision: the largest increases in sales were recorded Why it matters: The sentence refers to two separate increases, so a plural noun and verb are required.
- 10. Clarify time span Original: these amounts increased in five years Suggested revision: these figures increased over the five-year period Why it matters: Over clearly expresses change across the period between the two table years.
- 11. Add definite article Original: other four countries Suggested revision: the other four countries Why it matters: The specified remaining countries require the definite article.
- 12. Remove extra preposition Original: reached to Suggested revision: reached Why it matters: Reach takes a direct object and does not require to here.
Suggested Rewrites
- namely: namely,
- fair-trade-labelled Fairtrade-labelled
- terms years
- These coffees and bananas These products
- farmers of developing nations farmers in developing countries
- given paid
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response is well organised and highlights the dominant coffee and banana markets with several accurate comparisons. Its main weakness is selective coverage and one inaccurate concluding claim: Belgium, rather than Denmark or Sweden, had the lowest banana sales in 1999, while several 2004 coffee figures are omitted. Prioritise a more precise overview and complete, accurately checked comparisons, then refine recurring grammar and collocation problems in comparative statements.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response provides a clear overview and covers the largest changes, but omits some useful figures and misidentifies the lowest 1999 banana market.
Check every ranking against the tables and include Belgium’s banana rise alongside the falls in Sweden and Denmark.
Coherence and Cohesion
The report is logically divided by product and moves clearly from overview to supporting comparisons, with only a slightly detached final paragraph.
Integrate the final lowest-sales comparison into the relevant coffee and banana detail paragraphs for a tighter progression.
Lexical Resource
A varied range of reporting and comparison vocabulary is used, though several collocations such as ‘two different terms’ and ‘reached to’ are inaccurate.
Use standard data-reporting combinations such as ‘in the two years’, ‘rose to’, and ‘was three times as high as’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex structures are attempted successfully and meaning remains clear, but article, agreement, and comparison-form errors occur repeatedly.
Proofread noun phrases and comparative clauses, especially ‘the majority’, ‘increased sales’, and ‘lower in 2004 than in 1999’.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The tables below give information about sales of Fairtrade*-labelled coffee and bananas in 1999 and 2004 in five European countries. Sales of Fairtrade-labelled coffee and bananas (1999 & 2004) *Fairtrade: a category of products for which farmers from developing countries have been paid an officially agreed fair price.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.