The table below shows the results of surveys in 2000, 2005 and 2010 about one university.
Sample Response
The table data illustrates the proportion of students who gave good ratings to various aspects of a university in three different years - 2000, 2005 and 2010.
Overall, it is clear that the percentage of students who gave good ratings to five different aspects of the university were comparatively higher in 2010 than previous years with the exception of the range of modules offered by the university.
To begin with, 65 percent students rated the technical quality of the university as excellent in 2000 and this ratio remained more or less the same in the next two surveys. The most striking feature of the data is that there was a significant rise in the percentage of students who rated electronic resources as good. It started off at 45% in 2000, rose to 72% in 2005 and finally, the figure almost doubled in 2010, which was 88%. From 2000 to 2010, there were fluctuations in the percentage of students who gave a good rate for the print resources and also the range of modules offered. While print resources received a steady good rating, 87 to 89 percent, range or major offered received a lower rating in 2010, just 27% rated it as "good". The modules offered by the university had a lower percentage of good ratings in 2010 than in 2000. Finally, it is interesting to note that the building and teaching facilities remained constant in its percentage of good ratings by the students over the given period - 77% positive rating.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Remove redundancy Original: table data Suggested revision: table Why it matters: A table inherently contains data, so the extra noun is unnecessary.
- 2. Introduce year list Original: years - 2000 Suggested revision: years: 2000 Why it matters: A colon cleanly introduces the list of survey years.
- 3. Add percentage preposition Original: 65 percent students Suggested revision: 65 percent of students Why it matters: A percentage followed by a noun requires “of.”
- 4. Tighten possessive phrase Original: rated the technical quality of the university Suggested revision: rated the university’s technical quality Why it matters: The possessive form makes the noun phrase more concise.
- 5. Match rating label Original: excellent Suggested revision: good Why it matters: The table reports good ratings, not excellent ratings.
- 6. Use figure term Original: ratio Suggested revision: figure Why it matters: A single reported percentage is a figure rather than a ratio.
- 7. Use concise trend Original: more or less the same Suggested revision: broadly stable Why it matters: This is a concise formal description of the small changes.
- 8. Fix tense structure Original: is that there was Suggested revision: was Why it matters: This produces the consistent structure “The most striking feature was a significant rise.”
- 9. Clarify reference Original: It started off Suggested revision: The figure stood Why it matters: Naming the figure removes the vague pronoun reference.
- 10. Remove stray comma Original: finally, the figure Suggested revision: finally the figure Why it matters: The comma unnecessarily separates the adverb from the subject.
- 11. Attach final value Original: which was 88% Suggested revision: reaching 88% Why it matters: The participial phrase links the final value clearly to the rise.
- 12. Use objective phrasing Original: it is interesting to note that Suggested revision: the data show that Why it matters: Task 1 reporting should state the observed feature directly.
Suggested Rewrites
- table data table
- years - 2000 years: 2000
- 65 percent students 65 percent of students
- rated the technical quality of the university rated the university’s technical quality
- excellent good
- ratio figure
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response covers all five university aspects and accurately highlights the dramatic growth in electronic resources, while its introduction, overview and detailed section create a clear reporting structure. The main limitation is precision: the overview overlooks the unchanged building and teaching facilities, and the range of modules is described as fluctuating despite a steady decline. Prioritize exact trend classification and tighter comparisons before refining language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All five aspects are covered with mostly accurate figures, but the overview misses the constant facilities rating and one trend is misclassified as fluctuation.
State that electronic resources rose sharply, modules declined steadily, facilities stayed unchanged, and the other two measures varied only slightly.
Coherence and Cohesion
The introduction, overview and detail paragraph provide clear progression, though the discussion of module ratings is repetitive.
Group stable measures together and mention the declining module ratings once with their start and end values.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient range for trends and proportions, but imprecise expressions such as 'gave a good rate' and 'range or major offered' weaken control.
Use consistent table labels and natural reporting phrases such as 'gave a good rating' and 'range of modules offered'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response attempts varied complex structures, but agreement, article and reference errors occur noticeably without obscuring the data.
Correct plural agreement and noun phrases, including 'the percentage was', '65 percent of students' and 'facilities remained constant in their ratings'.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The table below shows the results of surveys in 2000, 2005 and 2010 about one university.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.