How to Use This PDF

In this PDF, you’ll see six sample IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 prompts. Feel free to answer
each prompt yourself, using the advice and resources from our blog post for sample answers and
practice resources LINK NEEDED.

You can also compare your own work to the Band 9 model answer that appears on the page after
each prompt. The first prompt includes a scoring explanation for its model answer, telling you why
the prompt is Band 9. Read that explanation carefully, and you’ll be able to apply those principles
to all 6 practice questions.

Go to the next page to get started!

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MODEL IELTS ACADEMIC WRITING TASK 1 PROMPT AND ANSWER: LINE GRAPH

The chart below gives information about population growth in three major Australian cities
from 1992 to 2016.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

(Model essay and score explanation on the next two pages)

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Model Essay: Line Graph Prompt
This line graph shows the change in amounts of people for the cities of Melbourne, Sydney, and
Brisbane from 1992 to 2017.

All cities saw a net increase in annual population growth by 2011, but the most dramatic increases
happened between 2007 and 2010. In spite of this overall trending, there were a number of rises
and falls in growth, with all cities showing a decrease in growth in 2011.

Although it started out with the least annual growth, Melbourne’s growth accelerated the most
overall, starting with only a roughly 23k increase in people in 1992, but gained around 110,000
people in 2017. Brisbane began with nearly as little growth as Melbourne, but had lower net gain,
rising from slightly over 23k growth in 1992 to a gain of merely 50,000 by 2017. Sydney initially
had the highest growth rate at 30,000 in a year, but ended with 105,000 annual growth by the
end of the period, just behind Melbourne.

Scoring rationale, based on the band 9 category descriptors in the official rubric:
● Task achievement
○ Per the instructions, this essay summarizes the information by identifying the main
features in paragraph one, reporting the general content of the main features in
paragraph two, and making relevant comparisons between the cities in the graph
in paragraph three. This matches the band 9 descriptor “fully satisfies all the
requirements of the task.
○ The essay organizes its paragraphs clearly, identifying the characteristics of the
graph in the first paragraph, reporting the main features in the second, and
making comparisons in the third. Each paragraph’s ideas are connected with
appropriate linking words, such as “while,” “in spite of,” “although,” and so on. This
matches with “clearly presents a fully developed response” in the band 9 task
achievement section.
● Coherence and cohesion
○ Coherence and cohesion is tied closely to the points I mentioned above in task
achievement. This essay organizes similar ideas closely together in paragraphs
without any distracting less relevant details and uses natural-sounding transitions.
In doing this, the essay “uses cohesion in such a way that it attracts no attention”
and “skillfully manages paragraphing.
● Lexical resource
○ While this essay does repeat sum specialized terms related to the graph, such as
“annual,” it uses a variety of language to describe the same thing when possible.
As one example, when describing the beginning point on the graph for each of
the three cities in the final paragraph, the essay uses the terms “started out,”

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 “began,” and “initially had.” The means that the essay “uses a wide range of
vocabulary,” per level 9 of the rubric.
○ Not only are the words varied, they are also very suited to the context and
meaning.
■ For instance, sophisticated phrasing such as “net increase” and “the most
dramatic increases” appear in paragraph 1. Overly wordy terms such as
“the total increase for each year combined” are avoided for the most part.
So are slightly awkward sounding phrases like “the very shocking
increases.”
■ Moreover, the mistakes in word use that do appear in the essay are minor.
“Amounts of people” in the first paragraph is overly simple and slightly
awkward, but the essay uses the much better term “population” after that
initial slip. Similarly, the use of the term “trending” when “trends” would be
a more commonly used word with more accurate meaning, is a very minor
word form error.
■ Ultimately, this links to the rubric’s description of “very natural and
sophisticated control of lexical features,” where “rare minor errors occur
only as “slips.”
● Grammatical range and accuracy
○ This essay shows a level of grammar variety that’s comparable to its variety of
vocabulary. The first paragraph consists of a sentence with relatively simple
structure, but with a sophisticated prepositional phrase modifying the noun
“change.” The paragraphs that follow have compound sentences (the first
sentence of paragraph 2), and the use of a variety of modifying phrases (ex: “with
all cities…”, “rising from slightly…”).
○ There is a minor error in parallel structure in the first sentence of the second
paragraph, with a shift from present participle “starting” to past tense “gained.”
○ Together, these aspects of grammar in the essay satisfy the level 9 rubric
descriptor “uses a wide range of structures with full flexibility and accuracy; rare
minor errors occur only as ‘slips’.”

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MODEL IELTS ACADEMIC WRITING TASK 1 PROMPT AND ANSWER: LINE GRAPH AND TABLE

The graph and table below show the average monthly rainfalls and average annual rainfalls
for three towns in the district of Kona in Hawaii for a 30-year period (1971-2000).

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

(Model answer on the next page)

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Model Essay: Line Graph and Table Prompt
The chart and table show the average monthly and annual rainfall for the towns of Kanaliu,
Opihihale, and Holualoa from 1971 to 2000.

Average monthly rainfalls are usually higher from June to September, and tend to be lower
between October and May. However, rainfall can differ a good deal between towns, and these
differences add up to distinctly different annual numbers.

Opihihale usually has the least rainfall, but has slightly more (less than 2 cm difference) rainfall
than the other towns around August and November. In contrast, Kainaliu’s monthly rainfall is often
the highest, 7-9 cm greater than Opihihale and 5-7 cm greater than Holualoa at the height of the
summer and fall rainy periods.

The larger differences during the higher rainfall periods add up over the course of the year. In the
table, Kainaliu clearly has the most annual rainfall, Opihihale has the least by far, and Holualoa sits
between these two extremes, somewhat closer to Opihihale than to Kainaliu.

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MODEL IELTS ACADEMIC WRITING TASK 1 PROMPT AND ANSWER: BAR GRAPH

The chart below gives information about the ratio of income to spending (in dollars) by
Americans by age range in 2013.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

(Model answer on next page)

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Model Essay: Bar Graph
This graph compares how much Americans spent to how much income they made in 2013, by
age group.

The data shows an overall rise and fall in both income and spending between young, middle
aged, and older Americans. Income rises and falls more sharply than spending.

Those under 25 and over 75 actually spent slightly more than more than they earned. In
contrast, between the ages of 25 and 64, Americans earned 10,000 to 20,000 dollars more than
they spent. This difference shrinks in the 65-74 age group, where spending was just a few
thousand dollars less.

In terms of actual numbers, those under 25 or over 75 earned and spent around 30,000 and
35,000 dollars, respectively. 25-34 year olds and 65-74 year olds both earned in the 50,000s
and spent in the 40,000s. In the middle, between ages 35 and 64, income was 70,000-80,000
dollars, and spending ranged from roughly 55 to 60 thousand.

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MODEL IELTS ACADEMIC WRITING TASK 1 PROMPT AND ANSWER: PIE CHART

The chart below gives information about the household percentage of spending on
essential goods in China for the years 1995 and 2011

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

(Model answer on next page)

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Model Essay: Pie Chart
The two pie graphs show differences in Chinese household spending in four essential
categories. These categories are marked as percentages of total spending, with differences in
spending for 1995 and 2011.

Food and clothing remained the largest categories in both years, with medicine and household
goods remaining the smallest. Nonetheless, there were measurable changes in all four
categories over the years. Changes to the household budget shares of food and medicine were
particularly noticeable.

Both of the top two categories, clothing and food, shrank during this 16 year period. Clothing
lost just 1% of its share, going from 19% to 18%, while food dropped more dramatically, starting
at 68% but losing 9 points of share by 2011.

In both 1995 and 2011, medicine and household goods represented the lowest and second
lowest spending categories, respectively. Still, both gained a larger share of household spending
in China by 2011. Medicine jumped 7 points from 4% to 11%, while household goods made a
smaller but still-noticeable increase from 9 to 12 percent.

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MODEL IELTS ACADEMIC WRITING TASK 1 PROMPT AND ANSWER: LINE GRAPH

The diagrams below show changes that have taken place in the Sawry District
neighbourhood since 1920.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

(Model answer on next page)

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Model Essay: Map
This pair of maps depicts change over the course of a century in the Sawry District
neighborhood by showing the area in 1920 and 2020.

The overall change in the neighborhood is one of growth. By 2020 there are more businesses,
more housing, and greater public services. However, not all businesses and services remained
intact after 1920.

Business and housing saw the most change and growth. The cannery present in 1920 was
replaced by an office complex. Two of the houses near the Elmwood River were demolished
and replaced by a road and an apartment complex. Oak Avenue went from having two houses
and a shop to having three houses, two shops, an apartment complex, and a petrol station.

The change in public services was less significant than the change to housing and businesses.
Prestwich Primary School was demolished and then rebuilt as a bigger school, closer to Oak
Street’s shops. And Elmwood River gained a bridge and a bike path, the latter of which replaced
the small beach seen on the 1920 map.

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The diagram below gives information about the recycling of glass and plastic containers.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

(Model Answer on Next Page)

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Model Essay: Process Diagram
This flowchart shows the differences and similarities in the life cycles of glass and plastic
containers, from creation and use to recycling and re-creation.

This diagram reveals both similarities and differences in the way that plastic and glass goods
are made, recycled, and then made anew. The processes have more differences than
similarities, but there are some more significant differences in the earlier stages of the recycling
process.

The initial collection and transport of both goods are the same. However, after that, glass is
sorted by color and may then be immediately cruished, while plastic is sorted by quality and
must be bundled before it can be shredded.

Once the glass is crushed and the plastic is shredded, the processes become more similar
again. At this point, both the glass and plastic pieces are washed, and then melted and
reshaped into new products. These final steps are nearly identical, although the melting and
reshaping of glass must be done by two separate machines rather than one.

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