The graph below shows the different modes of transport used to travel to and from work in one European city in 1960, 1980 and 2000.

Same questionCompare 5 different answers (Band 6–6.5)

Sample Response

1

The diagram delineates the modes of transporttype of transportations citizens of a European citycountry used to travel to and from their workplaces in three years: 1960three different years - 1960, 1980 and 2000. As an overall trend, cars became much more populargained a huge popularity as the mode of commuting while bus use declinedbus lost its appeal as a viable mode of transportcommunication among these commutersto these Europeans. As the diagram suggests, around four out of ten of these Europeans used buses to reach their offices and to return homeget back homes in 1960. Tubes were the second most preferredprefered mode of transportation as more than 25% of peopleas more 25% people took this mode of transportthis form of vehicle. Interestingly, Only around one in every 18 people used cars to travel while trains were preferred by roughly 18% citizens for commuting to and from offices. After two decades, trains and personal cars gained their demands as more than half of the population used these two forms of transports. Tubes and buses retained less proportion of commuters in this year and buses seem like lost its attraction as a mode of transportation. Finally, in 2000, more than one-third of commuters used carsthese Europeans started using cars while only 15% of them used buses to travel to and from their workplaces. Tube use accounted for almost a quarter of commutersTubes retained almost one-fourth of the commuters while train useusage stood just above 20%.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 6.0

The response selects the main changes well, especially the rise of car use and the fall in bus use, and most figures closely match the chart. The main limitation is imprecision in the 1980 comparison, where train and car shares total about half rather than more than half, alongside frequent awkward language. Prioritise exact year-by-year comparisons and then revise recurring noun, article, and verb-pattern errors for clearer reporting.

Band score breakdown

IELTS Writing Criteria Scores

TA

Task Achievement

7.0
Scoring rule

A clear overview and well-selected figures describe the major transport shifts, with only minor numerical and contextual inaccuracies.

Next step

State that train and car use totalled about 50% in 1980 and consistently refer to commuters in a city rather than a country.

CC

Coherence and Cohesion

6.0
Scoring rule

The chronological progression is easy to follow and linking is generally effective, but presenting the entire report as one paragraph limits clarity.

Next step

Place the overview separately and divide the details into an earlier-years comparison and a focused account of the 2000 outcomes.

LR

Lexical Resource

6.0
Scoring rule

The response shows reasonable range for trends and transport, but repeated word-choice and collocation errors make several descriptions unnatural.

Next step

Replace forms such as "transportations", "mode of communication", and "gained their demands" with precise transport and trend language.

GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

5.5
Scoring rule

The response uses varied sentence forms, but frequent errors in articles, plurals, agreement, and verb patterns reduce grammatical control.

Next step

Proofread quantified noun phrases and verb constructions, especially "more than 25% of people" and "buses seemed to lose their appeal".

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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

The graph below shows the different modes of transport used to travel to and from work in one European city in 1960, 1980 and 2000.

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