The bar chart below shows the number of tourists in three nations who travel to Australia in 2005 and 2015. The graph below shows the number of tourists who use two types for holiday.

Practice this IELTS Writing Task 1 question on IELTSX. The bar chart below shows the number of tourists in three nations who travel to Australia in 2005 and 2015. The graph below shows the number of tourists who use two types for holiday.

Tourists to Australia and Holiday Types 2005 and 2015 - 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 Tourists to Australia and Holiday Types 2005 and 2015
Chart supplied with the IELTS Writing Task 1 question: Tourists to Australia and Holiday Types 2005 and 2015

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 ยท 184 words.

The bar chart compares the number of visitors to Australia from three specific countries in 2005 and 2015, while the line graph tracks the preference for two different holiday styles over the same decade.

Overall, the number of tourists from the UK and the US increased, whereas Japanese visitor numbers saw a decline. Additionally, while staying at resorts remained the more popular option for most of the period, the popularity of backpacking experienced significant growth.

In terms of the bar chart, British visitors doubled from roughly 800,000 in 2005 to 1.6 million in 2015. US visitors also saw a substantial rise, growing from 400,000 to match the British and Japanese figures at roughly 1.5 million by the end of the period. Conversely, Japanese tourism dropped significantly from 1.5 million to approximately 1 million.

Regarding the line graph, resort-based holidays started at a peak of approximately 1.7 million in 2005, fluctuated, and eventually fell to about 1.2 million in 2015. In contrast, the number of backpackers tripled from 400,000 to 1.2 million, eventually converging with the resort figures by the end of the ten-year span.

Examiner feedback

This is an exceptionally strong response that clearly and accurately summarizes the data. The overview is precise, and the body paragraphs use a high level of grammatical control and sophisticated vocabulary to describe the trends and figures.

Task Achievement - 8

- The response covers all requirements of the task appropriately and sufficiently. - Key features (increases in UK/US visitors vs decline in Japanese; growth of backpacking vs decline in resorts) are clearly highlighted. - A clear overview is provided, and data are used accurately to support descriptions.

Coherence & Cohesion - 8

- Information and ideas are logically organized with a clear progression from the general overview to specific data details. - Cohesive devices such as 'while', 'additionally', 'in terms of', and 'conversely' are used effectively to link ideas. - Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the two different data sources (bar chart and line graph).

Lexical Resource - 8

- A wide range of vocabulary is used fluently to convey precise meanings (e.g., 'fluctuated', 'converging', 'decade'). - There is skillful use of less common items like 'resort-based' and 'ten-year span'. - Collocations are natural and appropriate for an academic report.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 9

- A wide range of structures is used with full flexibility and control. - The majority of sentences are error-free, utilizing complex structures such as 'while staying at resorts remained...' and 'growing from... to match...'. - Punctuation is used appropriately throughout the response.

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