The bar chart below shows Scotland’s exports to the rest of the UK and the rest of the world for the year 2014.
Sample Response
The bar chart presentsThe bar graph reveals data on Scotland’s export revenue to the rest of the UKto the United Kingdom as well as the rest of the worldas well as rest of the world in 2014. Overall, the highest export earningsearning for Scotland came from ‘business services and finance, hotels and restaurant services’‘business service including hotels’ and ‘chemicals and mineral products’‘chemical & mineral products’ while the UK was the largest market for electricalElectrical and instrument engineering goods exportedmanufactured by Scotland. According to the bar graph, Scotland’s total export revenue in 2014 was roughly 75 billion poundspound and approximately £21 billion of this revenueapproximately 21 billion of this revenue came from the UK. Food & drink, chemical & mineral, electrical and instrument engineeringelectrical instruments and business service generated £4.4, £5, £4 and £1.7 billion in export revenue respectivelybrought 4.4, 5, 4 and 1.7 billion export revenue respectively from the UK. Those industries generated £5.8, £9.5, £2.3 and £13.8 billion in export earnings respectively5.8, 9.5, 2.3 and 13.8 billion pounds earning consequentially for Scotland in 2014 from exports to the rest of the worldfrom the global export except the UK. Scotland generated the highest export figure from business services and finance, hotels and restaurant services, at £15.5 billionfrom business service with over 15 billion pounds while the second highest came from chemicals and mineral productschemical and mineral industry. Export amount from the UK in engineering industry (4 billion) exceeded the global export earning while Scotland earned the least revenue from the ‘agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining’ industries. The UK was its largest market for food, chemical and engineering products.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response provides a clear overview and several useful figures, with generally logical movement from totals to category comparisons. Its main limitation is uneven task coverage: several industries receive little detail, and the claim that the UK was the larger market for food and chemical products contradicts the chart. Prioritise accurate cross-market comparisons and cover a broader, representative set of categories while separating the overview and details into paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and several accurate figures demonstrate good selection, but category coverage is uneven and the final comparison for food and chemicals is inaccurate.
Compare the UK and rest-of-world values accurately across a wider representative range, including wholesale, other manufacturing, and the smallest sector.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically from the overview and totals to individual sectors, although presenting everything in one paragraph weakens organisation.
Use separate paragraphs for the overview and detailed comparisons, and group sectors by similar export patterns.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a reasonable range of topic vocabulary, but recurring awkward collocations such as “export earning” and “pounds earning” reduce precision.
Use natural combinations such as “export earnings,” “revenue of £5 billion,” and “exports to the rest of the world.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures conveys meaning clearly, despite recurring article, plural, and noun-form errors.
Check countable forms and articles carefully, especially in phrases such as “the rest of the world,” “billions of pounds,” and “the engineering industry.”
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The bar chart below shows Scotland’s exports to the rest of the UK and the rest of the world for the year 2014.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.