IELTS Task 1 Academic band 7 sample: bar chart, scored line by line

Most pages labelled as an IELTS Task 1 Academic band 7 sample are showing you a band 8 or 9 answer with a band 7 label attached. This one is not: the answer below scores 7 across all four criteria, it contains a factual error, and you can see exactly which sentence caused it, because the underlying data is printed alongside the chart.

That last point matters more than it sounds. Accuracy of figures is half of Task Achievement, and an answer you cannot check against the source data cannot teach you anything about accuracy. Descriptor wording quoted here is from the public IELTS Writing band descriptors, updated May 2023.

Every figure in the sample answer can be traced back to a row you can see. That is the point of printing the table.

The chart and the data behind it

Task (written for this article): The chart below shows the percentage of adults who cycled to work at least once a week in four European cities in 2005 and 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The figures below are a constructed practice task, not published survey data. They exist so that you can verify every claim the sample answer makes.

City	2005 (%)	2020 (%)	Change (pp)
Amsterdam	38	44	+6
Copenhagen	33	49	+16
Berlin	22	41	+19
Dublin	6	15	+9

Two things in this data set are traps. Amsterdam leads in 2005 but is overtaken by Copenhagen in 2020, so any sentence claiming Amsterdam "remained the highest" is false. And "the smallest increase" is true or false depending on which measure you mean: Amsterdam rises least in percentage points, at +6, while Dublin's +9 is the largest rise proportionally — 150% against Amsterdam's 16%.

The answer, in full: 165 words

The bar chart compares the percentage of adults who cycled to work weekly in four European cities in 2005 and 2020. Overall, cycling became more common in all four cities, although Dublin remained far behind the other three.

In 2005, Amsterdam had the largest proportion of weekly cycle commuters, at 38%, followed by Copenhagen at 33%. Berlin stood at 22%, while Dublin was far lower, at only 6%.

By 2020 every figure had risen. Copenhagen increased to 49% and Amsterdam rose to 44%, so Amsterdam remained the highest of the four cities. Berlin nearly doubled, going up to 41%. Dublin also grew, reaching just 15%.

Berlin and Copenhagen saw the biggest rises in percentage points, at 19 and 16 respectively. Dublin's increase was smaller in size, but it was the fastest in relative terms. Although Dublin improved, it was still the lowest city in 2020 by a wide margin. The three leading cities, however, had become much closer together by the end of the period.

Final marks: TA 7 / CC 7 / LR 7 / GRA 7. This is a band 7 answer with one clear factual error in it, which is the normal shape of a band 7 script — the band 7 Task Achievement descriptor explicitly allows for "a few omissions or lapses". A band 8 answer does not get that allowance.

Scored sentence by sentence

#	Sentence	Criteria affected	Verdict
1	"The bar chart compares the percentage of adults who cycled to work weekly…"	TA +	Task, units, places and both years identified. Nothing invented.
2	"Overall, cycling became more common in all four cities, although Dublin remained far behind the other three."	TA ++	The overview. Names the shared trend and the persistent gap. This sentence alone lifts the answer off band 6.
3	"In 2005, Amsterdam had the largest proportion…, at 38%, followed by Copenhagen at 33%."	TA + / LR =	Accurate, appropriately categorised by year. "Largest proportion" is correct for 2005.
4	"Berlin stood at 22%, while Dublin was far lower, at only 6%."	TA + / GRA +	Accurate; "while" used for contrast rather than time.
5	"By 2020 every figure had risen."	CC +	A hinge sentence. The reader is told the paragraph has changed year, without a numbered connective.
6	"Copenhagen increased to 49% and Amsterdam rose to 44%, so Amsterdam remained the highest of the four cities."	TA −−	The error. The two figures in the same sentence contradict the conclusion drawn from them. This is the single line holding the answer at 7.
7	"Berlin nearly doubled, going up to 41%."	TA =	Defensible: 22 to 41 is a rise of 86%. "Nearly doubled" is a fair description, not a lapse.
8	"Dublin also grew, reaching just 15%."	LR −	Accurate but thin. "Grew" is the third generic rise verb in four sentences.
9	"Berlin and Copenhagen saw the biggest rises in percentage points, at 19 and 16 respectively."	TA ++	Correct, and it introduces a second measure — change, not level. This is genuine comparison.
10	"Dublin's increase was smaller in size, but it was the fastest in relative terms."	TA ++ / LR +	Handles the trap in the data. Distinguishing absolute from relative change is band 7-and-above behaviour.
11	"Although Dublin improved, it was still the lowest city in 2020 by a wide margin."	GRA + / CC −	Accurate and well formed, but it repeats sentence 2's point without adding to it.
12	"The three leading cities, however, had become much closer together by the end of the period."	TA + / CC +	A real closing observation: the 2005 spread of 16 points narrows to 8. Earns its place.

Eleven sentences do band 7 work or better. One sentence is why the answer is not a band 8.

The four edits that would make this a band 8

Band 8 Task Achievement reads: "The response covers all the requirements of the task appropriately, relevantly and sufficiently." There is no allowance for lapses in it. Four changes close the gap, and none of them make the answer longer.

1. Fix sentence 6 (TA). This is not optional; a false claim contradicted by figures in the same sentence rules out band 8 on its own.

• Before: "Copenhagen increased to 49% and Amsterdam rose to 44%, so Amsterdam remained the highest of the four cities."
• After: "Copenhagen overtook Amsterdam to lead in 2020, at 49% against 44%."

2. Group the 2020 figures by pattern, not by city (CC). Sentences 6 to 8 walk through cities one at a time, which is organised but not sequenced. Band 8 asks for information to be logically sequenced.

• After: "Copenhagen and Berlin drove the change, climbing to 49% and 41%, while Amsterdam and Dublin moved far less, to 44% and 15%."

3. Vary the movement verbs (LR). Rose, grew, going up and increased appear within four sentences. Band 8 Lexical Resource asks for a wide resource conveying precise meanings; each of these verbs could carry different information — climbed, edged up, more than doubled — and here none of them does.

4. Merge sentences 11 and 12 (GRA). Two accurate short sentences making one point become one accurate longer sentence making two:

• After: "Although Dublin remained well behind in 2020, the gap among the other three had narrowed from sixteen percentage points to eight."

Note what is not on this list: length. The edited answer is shorter than the original.

Band 6 vs 7 vs 8, in the official words

These are the Task Achievement lines the marking actually runs on. Note that Task 1 is scored on Task Achievement, not Task Response — Task Response is the Task 2 criterion, and the two are not interchangeable.

Band 6 (Academic): "Key features which are selected are covered and adequately highlighted. A relevant overview is attempted."

Band 7: "The response covers the requirements of the task. The content is relevant and accurate – there may be a few omissions or lapses. (Academic) It presents a clear overview, the data are appropriately categorised, and main trends or differences are identified."

Band 8: "The response covers all the requirements of the task appropriately, relevantly and sufficiently."

The move from 6 to 7 is attempted becoming clear: the sample answer above has a real overview in sentence 2, which is why it does not sit at 6. The move from 7 to 8 is losing the lapse allowance, which is why sentence 6 costs it the band.

FAQ

How many words should a Task 1 answer be?

The official requirement is "You must write at least 150 words", with "no more than 20 minutes" recommended for the task. No upper limit and no target range is published. The sample above is 165 words and reaches band 7.

Do I need a conclusion in Task 1?

The descriptors require an overview. They say nothing at all about conclusions — neither requiring nor penalising one. Advice that a conclusion costs you marks is not coming from the descriptors.

Is the overview really that important?

IDP states that "a clear overview needs to be presented to reach a band 7 and higher", and that "you will lose marks if you omit an overview, or if the overview is unclear for the reader". In the sample above, sentence 2 is doing that work by itself.

Will a band 7 in Task 1 give me band 7 in Writing?

Not on its own. Task 2 contributes twice as much as Task 1, so the arithmetic that follows is (Task 1 + Task 2 × 2) ÷ 3. A 7 in Task 1 with a 6 in Task 2 averages below 6.5, not above it. Task 1 is the cheaper band to raise, but it is not the one that moves the score most.

Related reading

• Task Achievement vs Task Response — why Task 1 and Task 2 are marked on different first criteria
• IELTS Writing band descriptors explained — all four scales, band 5 upwards
• How to get band 7 in IELTS Writing — the four criteria as conditions to meet

Descriptor wording is quoted from the public IELTS Writing band descriptors (updated May 2023). Task requirements are set out on ielts.org.