IELTS Writing Task 1 sample answers (Academic)

The line graph compares the proportion of households with internet access in three countries over a twenty-year period from 2000.

Overall, access rose substantially in all three countries. Country A had the highest rate throughout, but Country B almost caught up by the end of the period, while Country C, despite rapid growth after 2010, remained well behind.

In 2000, 42% of households in Country A were connected, more than double the figure for Country B (18%) and over eight times that of Country C (5%). Country A's rate grew steadily to 78% in 2010, after which growth slowed as it approached saturation, reaching 94% in 2020.

Country B saw the fastest growth in the first half of the period, its figure more than tripling to 61% by 2010. It continued to climb to 91% in 2020, only three percentage points below Country A. Country C, by contrast, changed little in the first decade, rising from 5% to just 20%. Its growth then accelerated sharply, with the proportion more than tripling to 67% by 2020, although this was still roughly a quarter lower than the other two countries.

The bar chart compares how many hours per week people in three age groups spent on four leisure activities in 2023.

Overall, there was a clear generational divide: the youngest group devoted by far the most time to social media, whereas those aged 50 and over spent most of their free time watching television. Sport and reading occupied relatively little time for all three groups.

Watching television was the most time-consuming activity for the two older groups. People over 50 watched an average of 18 hours a week, three times as much as 16-24-year-olds (6 hours), with the middle group in between at 10 hours. Social media showed the reverse pattern. The youngest people spent 14 hours a week on it, double the figure for 25-49-year-olds and almost five times that for the oldest group (3 hours).

Time spent on sport declined slightly with age, from 5 hours among the young to 3 hours among the over-50s. Reading, by contrast, increased with age: the oldest group read for 6 hours a week, three times as long as the youngest group.

The pie charts compare the sources used to generate electricity in one country in 2005 and 2025.

Overall, the country's electricity mix was transformed over the twenty years. Coal, the dominant source in 2005, became a minor one, while wind and solar power grew from a negligible share to the largest single source.

In 2005, almost half of all electricity (48%) came from coal, with gas providing just over a quarter (27%) and nuclear power 18%. Renewable sources played only a small role: hydroelectric power accounted for 5%, and wind and solar for a mere 2%.

By 2025, coal's share had collapsed to 8%, one-sixth of its earlier level. Wind and solar power, on the other hand, had expanded dramatically to 37%, overtaking gas, which itself rose moderately to 34%. Nuclear power declined slightly to 14%, whereas hydroelectric power increased marginally to 7%. As a result, low-carbon sources (wind, solar, nuclear and hydro) together generated well over half of the country's electricity in 2025, compared with exactly a quarter in 2005.

The table compares the number of international students at universities in five countries in 2010 and 2020.

Overall, every country attracted more international students over the decade. The USA remained by far the largest destination, but the fastest growth occurred in Canada and Germany, which narrowed the gap with the leading countries considerably.

In 2010, the USA hosted 690,000 international students, well ahead of the UK with 400,000. The other three countries had much smaller numbers: 180,000 in Germany, 140,000 in Japan and fewer than 100,000 in Canada. Ten years later, numbers in both the USA and the UK had risen by 38%, to 950,000 and 550,000 respectively.

The most dramatic change was in Canada, where enrolment more than tripled, from 95,000 to 320,000, an increase of 237%. As a result, Canada moved from last place to fourth, close behind Germany. Germany's figure also roughly doubled, reaching 370,000, while Japan saw more moderate growth of 57%, to 220,000, leaving it with the smallest number of international students in 2020.

The diagram illustrates the stages involved in producing recycled paper, from the collection of used paper to the finished product.

Overall, the process consists of nine steps, which can be divided into three phases: collecting and preparing the waste paper, turning it into clean pulp, and converting the pulp back into paper. Water plays a central role throughout and is recycled within the process.

In the first phase, used paper is collected from households and offices and taken to a recycling plant, where it is sorted according to its grade. It is then shredded and mixed with water to create pulp.

The pulp next undergoes several cleaning stages. First, chemicals similar to soap are used to remove the ink, a stage known as de-inking. The pulp is then cleaned and screened to remove contaminants such as glue and plastic. If white paper is required, it is also bleached, although this step is optional.

In the final phase, the pulp is sprayed onto a moving mesh, through which the water drains away. The resulting sheet is pressed between rollers and dried by heated cylinders before being wound onto large reels and cut to the required size. The water removed during these last stages is filtered so that it can be used again.

The maps illustrate the changes that have taken place in the village of Ashford between 2000 and the present day.

Overall, Ashford has become considerably more developed. Most of the farmland has disappeared, replaced by housing, commercial facilities and energy infrastructure, while the woodland has been partly reduced and the main road layout has been extended.

In 2000, the area north of the main road consisted of farmland in the west and woodland in the east. Today, the farmland has been replaced by a housing estate, served by a new road running north from the main road, alongside which a supermarket and its car park have been built. On the eastern side, the woodland has shrunk slightly to make room for a sports field.

South of the main road, the existing houses in the west remain unchanged. The row of shops beside the junction has been converted into cafés, and the school opposite has been extended eastwards to almost twice its original size. The most striking change in this part of the village is that the farmland in the south-east corner has been converted into a solar farm.

The line graph and bar chart compare average temperatures and rainfall in Lisbon and London at two-monthly intervals over a year.

Overall, Lisbon was warmer than London throughout the year, while the two cities had very different rainfall patterns: Lisbon's rainfall was highly seasonal, with very wet winters and extremely dry summers, whereas London's was relatively even across the year.

Temperatures in both cities followed a similar pattern, rising from January to a peak in July before falling again. Lisbon's average ranged from 11°C in January to 23°C in July, while London's rose from just 5°C to 19°C. The gap between the two was largest in winter, at around six degrees, and narrowest in summer, at four.

Rainfall showed a clear contrast. In Lisbon, the wettest months were November and January, with 120 mm and 100 mm respectively, but the figure fell steadily through spring to only 5 mm in July. London, on the other hand, received between 40 mm and 60 mm in every month shown, so in summer it was considerably wetter than Lisbon, while in winter it was drier.