The table below shows the figures for imprisonment in five countries between 1930 and 1980.
Sample Response
The bar graph shows the number of prisonersimprisonment in five countries—Britaincountries - Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada, between 1930 and 1980.
Overall, Canada had the highest number of prisoners in 1930 while Great Britain had the lowest figurehad the least. After 50 yearsBut after 50 years, the number of prisonersthe figure for incarceration decreased in Canada and the United States had the highest number of prisoners.
Initially, in 1930, Canada had 120 thousand prisoners and that was the highest number of inmates among the five countries. There were 100 thousand prisoners in both the US and New Zealandboth in the US and New Zealand. Again, Australia had around 70 thousand prisoners and Great Britain had only 30 thousand prisoners and that was the lowest. After a decade, the number of prisoners in Britainthe prisoners’ number in Britain remained almost the same while the number decreased in Australia and New Zealand but remained unchanged in Canadadecreased in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In 1940But this year the number of prisonerstotal number of prisoners increased in the US by 30 thousand and reached 130 thousand. In 1950, the number of prisoners in Britain increasedthe prisoners’ number increased in Britain and slightly decreased in Australia and New Zealand. On the other hand, the prisoner in Canada increased and got highest among the five countries and decreased in the US. Prisoner numbers generally increasedA similar trend in terms of prisoner numbers in these countries could be observed after a decade. Finally, in 1980, prisoner numbers in these countriesthe prisoners’ number in these countries increased except in Australia. The US had the highest number of prisoners this year and Great Britain, Canada and New Zealand had over 80,000 prisonersmore than 80 thousand prisoners this year.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The report provides a clear endpoint overview and accurately presents many of the 1930, 1940, and 1980 figures. Coverage becomes uneven in the middle decades, with 1970 omitted and Canada incorrectly described as increasing in 1950, while recurring noun and agreement errors weaken precision. The highest-priority improvement is to select representative comparisons across every decade and verify each stated direction of change.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The task is generally addressed with an accurate broad overview and several correct comparisons, but middle-year coverage is limited and one Canadian trend is misstated.
Include a concise comparison for 1960 and 1970 and verify that Canada fell slightly rather than increased in 1950.
Coherence and Cohesion
Clear paragraphing and chronological organisation support progression, though the later decades are compressed and some links are mechanical.
Balance the body by grouping the first three decades and the final three decades with one focused comparison in each group.
Lexical Resource
The response uses some appropriate variation such as ‘inmates’ and ‘incarceration’, but repeated phrases like ‘prisoners’ number’ are unnatural.
Prefer accurate collocations such as ‘the number of prisoners’ and ‘recorded the highest figure’ throughout.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning remains clear through varied sentence forms, but article, agreement, noun-form, and clause-control errors occur repeatedly.
Edit each sentence for singular-plural agreement and complete comparative structures, particularly where countries and figures are contrasted.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The table below shows the figures for imprisonment in five countries between 1930 and 1980.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.