The charts below give information about USA marriage and divorce rates between 1970 and 2000, and the marital status of adult Americans in two of the years.
Sample Response
The provided charts compare the numbers of marriages and divorcesthe rate of marriage and divorce and the marital statusand marital status of adultadults Americans between 1970 and 2000.
As can be observed, the number of marriages in 1970 and 1980marriage in 1970 and 1980 remained unchanged, but afterwards, this figure began to fallafter that, it started falling. In each of those years, there wereIn 1970 and 1980, there were 2.5 million marriagesmarriages, equally. After 1980, this figure decreasedHowever, it decreased to approximately 2.4 millionalmost 2.3 million in 1990 and 2 million in 20002 million in 2000 respectively. The lowest divorce rate was recorded in 1970 and 2000 with 1 million marriages in both years. Highest divorce (1.4 million) occurred in 1990, which decreased significantly to 1.1 million in 1990.
It is noticeable thatIt is noticeable that, in 1970, the highest proportionhighest proportions of adult Americans, exactlyprecisely 70%, were married. By comparisonOn the other hand, 59% were married in 2000. Lowest divorce percentage was recorded at 2% and 8% in 1970 and 2000 respectively in both years. Overall, the number of people getting married decreasedhad decreased while the proportion of divorced adults increased between 1970 and 2000with an increased divorce rate in 2000 in the USA.
Why this response received Band 5.5
The response is clearly divided between the two charts and reports several central figures accurately, especially the decline in marriages and the dominant married category. However, the overview is imprecise, two marital-status categories are omitted, and the divorce discussion contains a wrong peak year and a contradictory comparison. The priority is to select all major trends first, then verify every year, category, and unit against the visuals before writing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response addresses both charts and identifies some main patterns, but its overview is unclear and key omissions and inaccurate divorce data limit achievement.
State a precise overall comparison and cover all marital-status categories while checking every figure and year against the charts.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information is arranged logically by chart and generally progresses clearly, although contradictory details weaken the flow within the first body paragraph.
Use one consistent comparison sequence for each series and ensure that each reference word and year links unambiguously to the preceding figure.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is sufficient for describing trends and proportions, but imprecise choices such as confusing rates, numbers, marriages, and divorces reduce accuracy.
Use exact chart language such as number of divorces, proportion married, remained stable, and peaked, with the correct noun for every figure.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the main meaning, but recurring article, agreement, word-form, and sentence-construction errors reduce control.
Proofread noun phrases and comparisons, especially articles, plural forms, subject-verb agreement, and the grammatical subject of each trend sentence.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The charts below give information about USA marriage and divorce rates between 1970 and 2000, and the marital status of adult Americans in two of the years.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.