The charts below show the main reasons why students chose a particular university in the UK, in 1997 and 2007.

Main reasons why students chose a particular university in UK in 1997 and 2007 - IELTS Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

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

Write at least 150 words.

A student's answer to this task, and the feedback on it

Written by an IELTSX user under exam conditions and published unedited and anonymously. Band 8 · 188 words.

The pie charts compare the proportions of the main reasons why students chose a particular university in the UK , in 1997 and 2007.

Overall, it is evident that suitable degree courses remained the largest category in both years, whereas proximity to parental home accounted for the smallest share in 1997. However, good sports and social activities became the lowest category in 2007. Furthermore, while the proportions of suitable degree courses, proximity to parental home and the figure for quality of teaching increased, those of good sports and social activities and quality of resources declined.

Among all categories, suitable degree courses accounted for the largest proportion in 1997, with the figure standing at 35% before increasing to 37% in 2007, making it the largest category in 2007.Similarly, the share of proximity to parental home rose from 10% to 22% over the same period. Finally, the figure for quality of teaching increased from 15% to 18%.

Turning to the remaining categories, good sports and social activities stood at 19% in 1997 before falling to 6% in 2007. Likewise, the figure for quality of resources declined from 21% to 17%.

Examiner feedback

The response is well-structured and clearly addresses the prompt by providing a comprehensive comparison of the two pie charts. It demonstrates strong control over grammar, cohesion, and task achievement, supported by accurate data selection.

Task Achievement - 8

- All requirements of the task are appropriately and sufficiently covered, comparing both years fully. - Key features are clearly selected, presented, and supported by accurate figures from the charts. - A clear overview is presented, highlighting the main trends and dominant categories across both years.

Coherence & Cohesion - 8

- Paragraph organization is logical with a clear introduction, overview, and body paragraphs detailing specific trends. - Cohesive devices such as 'whereas', 'furthermore', and 'turning to' are used effectively to link ideas. - Progression is clear throughout the response, guiding the reader smoothly from general trends to specifics.

Lexical Resource - 7

- A sufficiently wide vocabulary is used to convey precise meanings and avoid repetition (e.g., 'proportions', 'share', 'accounted for', 'stood at'). - Collocations are natural and appropriate for academic writing describing statistical data. - Minor slips in spacing around punctuation are present, but word formation and spelling are otherwise accurate.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 8

- A wide range of sentence structures, including complex clauses, is used flexibly and accurately. - The majority of sentences are error-free, with proper control over punctuation and tense usage. - Complex forms like 'while the proportions of... increased, those of... declined' demonstrate high accuracy.

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