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IELTS Writing Samples

IELTS essay samples (writing task 2), report and letter samples (writing task 1) with Band Scores, marked by IELTS teachers, including comments and suggestions on how to increase your score

IELTS Report, topic: Double line graph of lengths of hospital stay (from IELTS High Scorer’s Choice series, Academic Set 4)

This is a model response to a Writing Task 1 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is close to IELTS Band 9.

Set 4 Academic book, Practice Test 17

Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The graph below shows the average length of stay last year (in days) for serious injuries for different age groups in private and public hospitals in Queensland, Australia.

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

You should write at least 150 words.

Last Year’s Average Length of Stay at Private and Public Hospitals for Serious Injuries – Queensland, Australia
Double line graph of lengths of hospital stay (from IELTS High Scorer's Choice series, Academic Set 4 book)

Sample Band 9 Report

The graph provides two sets of statistics regarding the differing lengths of stays last year for patients with serious injuries in private and public hospitals in Queensland, Australia. The information is given for age groups for every four years of age.

Overall, it is clear that last year public hospitals stays were longer than stays at private hospitals across all age groups, with only one exception. The average lengths of stay were, however, very similar in trend in terms of how the stays rose and dropped.

The figures for public hospitals begin for the age group zero to four years. The lengths of stay go up very sharply and steadily from this age group, starting at around four days up to just under sixty days for the age group twenty-five to twenty-nine. There is then a sharp and steady drop to just over forty days to the age group thirty-five to thirty-nine. There is a more sharp increase to approximately fifty-seven days for the next age group and then there is a decrease in the length of hospital stays. This drop is sharp to start with, but slows down from the age group fifty to fifty-four years (around twenty-seven days) to eighty-five years plus (around eighteen days).

The figures for private hospitals follow a similar trend. The figures begin with the age group fifteen to nineteen years. They show a rise to a peak at the age group twenty-five to twenty-nine, the same peak age group for public hospitals. There is then a mostly steady drop in the length of hospital stay until the eighty-five years age group, where the length of stay is the same as the stay at public hospitals (around eighteen days). This is the only average length of stay that is the same for the public and private hospitals. The average length of stay is always larger in the age groups at public hospitals.

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IELTS essay, topic: People today find their lives more and more dominated by their jobs (agree/disagree)

This is a model response to a Writing Task 2 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is close to IELTS Band 9.

Set 6 General Training book, Practice Test 29

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

People today find their lives more and more dominated by their jobs. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Sample Band 9 Essay

It is certainly true that many people around the world find their lives dominated by the work that they have to do. This is shown when you realise how people’s work, and how much time, effort and resources they devote to it, is often the subject of conversation.

Most people depend on their jobs to generate an income to pay for their lives’ necessities and luxuries, and so work can naturally become a dominating focus. As this is an important part of nearly everyone’s everyday life, it can seem that people’s lives are indeed becoming more influenced by their jobs. Whether this emphasis on work is more significant now than in previous years is debatable. In many developed countries around the world, there are procedures in place to help people with finding work, providing unemployment benefits, ensuring education, and offering pension payments. In times past, these provisions were not in place and a job or business was required to provide the necessary income.

Therefore, in spite of increases in the cost of living in many places around the world, it can be argued there is actually less pressure than in previous years to keep one’s job and perform well at it. This, in turn, would lead to people’s lives being less influenced by their jobs today. It is also true that in the past, people were as responsible and focused on doing well in their responsibilities as today and so, in this respect, the people of the past would be equally dedicated to their work as people are today.

While I agree that people’s lives today are often dominated by their jobs, I feel that the current situation is not necessarily worse than before. In fact, it may be more positive, due to the fewer pressures to earn money in many countries.

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