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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: Bar chart of average rainfall by month (from IELTS High Scorer’s Choice series, Academic Set 1)

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 1 Academic book, Practice Test 1

Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The bar chart below shows the average rainfall for Australia by month for last year. The line shows the average rainfall for Australia by month for the last 40 years.

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

You should write at least 150 words.

Bar chart of average rainfall for Australia by month for last year (from IELTS High Scorer's Choice series, Academic Set 1 book)

Sample Band 9 Report

This report will describe a bar chart showing the average rainfall for Australia last year by month and the average rainfall in Australia for the past forty years.

Overall, it can be seen that the average rainfall for Australia last year was a little lower than average rainfall in Australia for the past forty years, but generally followed the same pattern.

The average rainfall of the last forty years in Australia decreased from a peak at the beginning of the year to lows in the months in the middle of the year. Towards the end of the year rainfall rose again. Rainfall data for last year generally followed the same trend as the last forty years’ average.

Although the general pattern of the two sets of data is similar, there are some differences. The line representing the accumulation of the average rainfall from the past forty years begins at around eighty millimetres in January and then drops sharply to around thirty millimetres in April. Rainfall then drops slowly to around thirteen millimetres in September and then again rises steadily to just under sixty millimetres in December. Average rainfall for the last year was a little lower than the forty-year average for most months, excepting March, May, June and November when the rainfall was a little heavier. August and October were particularly dry when compared with the forty-year average, at around five millimetres each compared with about fifteen and twenty millimetres each respectively for the forty-year average.

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IELTS essay, topic: Should governments impose extra taxes to restrict tourism in order to reduce pollution?

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 2 Academic book, Practice Test 10

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Tourism today creates a variety of problems, such as pollution due to flights, transport and dirty water.

Do you think that governments should impose extra taxes on flights or accommodation to restrict today’s tourism industry?

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

Travelling today is simple to the extent that within twelve hours one can travel from Europe to Singapore, crossing nearly the whole globe. Based on this simplicity, tourism has changed significantly over the years. While in the past a family would be proud to drive two hours to a lake, many families now think nothing of travelling to the far side of the world. This also has a downside as increased pollution is a result. Extra taxes on flights or accommodation have therefore been offered as a solution so as to increase the cost of tourism and reduce its popularity.

No matter what major transportation is used, travelling creates pollution. To decrease the amount of pollution caused by tourism, the tourism industry itself would have to be weakened. If these increased taxes are based on travelling distance, people would be more willing to stay closer to their home country, as for many even a slight increase would mean that their planned holidays would be too expensive. Accommodation taxes would raise holiday costs no matter the distance travelled. Therefore, if increased taxes were levied on travel and accommodation, tourism and therefore pollution would decrease.

On the other hand, the main transport methods that would be impacted by imposing extra taxes would be communal ones, such as planes, trains and buses, and increasing the taxes would also impact non-tourists. Also, holidays are a vital part of ordinary people’s lives, as they escape from work and stress, and get to spend valuable time with their families. Stopping people travelling would greatly impact some simple pleasures of ordinary life.

In conclusion, while tourism impacts the environment significantly, simply introducing extra taxes on transport or accommodation is a drastic measure. It could be more valuable to change the methods of transportation to decrease pollution, instead making people stay close to home.

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