The bar charts below show the Marriage and Divorce Statistics for eight countries in 1981 and 1994.
Sample Response
The given bar graphs show information on marriage and divorce in eight countries for the years 1981 and 1994. As is observed from the chartspresentation, the marriage rate in all the countries except Denmark decreased over time while the divorce rate increaseddivorce rate has increased in five of the eight countriesfive out of eight countries. In the marriage chartAs is presented in the bar graph, the marriage rate in 1981 in the USA was the highest among the given countries and at more than 10 per thousandthat was more than 10 per thousand. In other listed European countriesEuropean countries, namely United Kingdom, Finland, France, Italy, Denmark, the marriage rate was around 6 per thousand. Denmark had the lowest rate of marriage in 1981 which was around 5 per thousand5/ thousand. By 1994After 15 years the marriage rate decreased in all of the given countries except in Denmark, where the rate increased by almost about 2 per thousand2/thousand. Japan, the only Asian country,The only Asian country Japan had very little changechanges of their marriage rate. From the divorce statistics, we can see that the highest rate of divorce was in the USA which was over 5 per thousand in 1981more than 4 per thousand. The divorce rate increased in 1994 compared withto the rate in 1981 in all the countries except in the USA and Denmark, while Germany was unchangedexcept in the USA and Denmark. Italy had the lowest divorce rate among the given countries and there was no change inof this rate for the given 2 years in Germany.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response provides a clear overview and captures the central patterns in both charts, especially the general fall in marriage rates and the contrasting changes in divorce. Its main limitation is that broad country groupings, approximate figures, repeated phrasing, and one dense paragraph reduce precision and readability. Prioritize separating the two charts into distinct paragraphs and supporting each trend with accurate high and low figures.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response reports the main trends accurately: marriage rates mostly fell except Denmark, and divorce rates rose in several countries while falling in the USA and Denmark. Some figures are approximate and a few country groupings are broad.
Add more precise figures for the highest and lowest divorce rates and separate marriage and divorce details more clearly.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response has a clear overview and logical movement from marriage to divorce, but it is one dense paragraph with repeated opening phrases.
Use separate paragraphs for the two charts and reduce repeated phrases like "as is presented".
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is suitable for statistical comparison, though some phrases are awkward or informal, such as "very little changes" and "2/thousand".
Use standard expressions such as "per thousand people", "changed little", and "rose by about two".
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The grammar is generally clear, but errors appear in articles, agreement, and prepositions.
Check singular/plural agreement with "rate" and "changes", and use articles before superlatives.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The bar charts below show the Marriage and Divorce Statistics for eight countries in 1981 and 1994.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.