The chart gives information about the number and purposes of trips made by men and women in one year in a certain European country.

Practice this IELTS Writing Task 1 question on IELTSX. The chart gives information about the number and purposes of trips made by men and women in one year in a certain European country.

Number and purposes of trips made by men and women in one year - 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.

IELTS Writing Task 1 chart for Number and purposes of trips made by men and women in one year
Chart supplied with the IELTS Writing Task 1 question: Number and purposes of trips made by men and women in one year

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 7 ยท 209 words.

The bar chart compares the number of trips made by men and women for different purposes in a European country over the course of one year.

Overall, men made more trips for work and sport and entertainment, whereas women travelled more frequently for shopping and visiting friends. Travelling to work was the most common purpose among men, while shopping accounted for the highest number of trips among women. Day trips were the least common reason for both genders.

Regarding the categories in which men recorded higher figures, travelling to work was by far the most common purpose, accounting for 330 trips, compared with 215 among women. A similar pattern can be observed in sport and entertainment, with men making 145 trips compared with 135 among women. Day trips, meanwhile, were the least popular category for both genders, with men making 35 such trips, compared with just 25 among women.

Turning to the categories in which women recorded higher figures, shopping was the most prominent, with 280 trips compared with 185 among men, representing the largest difference between the genders among these two categories. A similar, though less substantial, difference can be seen in journeys made to visit friends, which accounted for 210 trips among women and 190 among men.

Examiner feedback

This is a well-organised response with an accurate overview and precise data selection, and the figures quoted are consistent with the trends described. The main limitation is that the detail paragraphs are heavily numerical, with fewer interpretive comparisons and some repetition of structures and verbs. Note that the chart image was not directly visible, so figures were assessed for internal consistency with the trends described.

Task Achievement - 7

- The overview is clear and accurate: men dominate work and sport/entertainment, women dominate shopping and visiting friends, and day trips are the least common for both genders. This is the strongest feature of the response. - Key figures are selected and quoted accurately (330 vs 215 for work, 280 vs 185 for shopping, 35 vs 25 for day trips), and the data are grouped logically by which gender recorded higher figures. - Comparisons are sometimes numerical rather than interpretive. Phrases like 'by far' and 'less substantial' add some evaluation, but the detail paragraphs could draw out more contrasts, such as the gap between work and sport for men, or the share of total trips by gender.

Coherence & Cohesion - 7

- Four paragraphs are used well: introduction, overview, and two detail paragraphs organised by gender. The progression is easy to follow. - Cohesive devices are used flexibly, including 'whereas', 'compared with', 'meanwhile', 'Turning to', and 'A similar pattern'. These signal comparison and transition clearly. - The repeated 'compared with' and 'accounted for/accounting for' occasionally make the cohesion feel formulaic, though this does not disrupt the flow.

Lexical Resource - 7

- Vocabulary is precise and suitable for describing trends and comparisons, with some less common items such as 'prominent', 'substantial', and 'by far'. - There are no spelling errors, and word formation is accurate ('travelled', 'popular', 'substantial'). - Phrases like 'accounted for' and 'accounting for' are repeated, and 'the categories in which' recurs. Varying these with 'made', 'recorded', or 'represented' would show a wider range. 'Among these two categories' is slightly vague in collocation.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 7

- A good range of structures is used, including relative clauses ('which accounted for'), participle phrases ('accounting for'), and contrastive structures ('whereas', 'compared with'). - Grammatical accuracy is high, with most sentences error-free and tense use consistent in past-reference description. - Punctuation is generally well controlled, with commas used correctly around 'meanwhile' and in list-like structures.

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