You look at the pie charts. You see a lot of numbers. You panic. So, you do what most students do: you start listing every single number you see. “In 1990 it was 40%. In 2020 it was 25%. Coal was 20%…” In the IELTS world, this is called a “Data Dump.” It is the fastest way to get stuck at Band 6.0.
To score a Band 7 or higher, you cannot just describe the data; you must summarize and group it. You also need precise grammar for describing trends—something that trips up even advanced students.
In this post, we will use the WriteWiseAI IELTS academic task 1 checker to analyze a real Band 6 report. We will pinpoint the mechanical errors and grammatical slips, and then use the Iterative Feedback Loop to rewrite it into a high-scoring analytical report.
The Task:
The pie charts below show the share of electricity production by fuel source in Canada and China in 1990 and 2020. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features.
The Student’s First Draft (Band 6.0):
Read this sample. It includes some good vocabulary, but look closely at the grammar and how the data is presented.
“The pie charts illustrate the number of electricity production bye fuel resources in two countries, namely Canada and China in two separated years 1990 and 2020. Overall, however, sustainable resources increased in 2020 in Canada, but in China resource of energy changed in both types.
With non-renewable, in the 1900 in Canada the most portion allocated to oil in 40%, in case this number reduce in 25% in 2020. Although coal had slightly changed in two years (25% and 20% respectively) national gas had increased above three times from 5% in 1990 to 18% in 2020. Notably, however, renewables, saw a raised in hydroelectric power and reached 32% in 2020, it was 25% previous decade in Canada but, nuclear power with 5% in both years remained at the last place of all categories.
According to the other charts, in China fossil fuels, such as coal experienced significantly reduce in 2020 in 5%, from 37% in 1990. Moreover, oil had a few changes, although it saw decreased from 31% in 1990 to 25% in 2020, it is the biggest proportion of non-renewable. Interestingly, on the other hand green energy in China changed clearly. Nuclear power in 1% in 1990 was the lowest type of energy that take a part for electricity, in 2020, had made obvious changed and saw 15% in 2020. The other source also had raised from 26% to 37% respectively and became second level.”
When submitted to our IELTS graph checker, this report scored a Band 6.0.
It “gets the job done”—the reader generally understands the data—but it is messy. Here are the specific issues the AI flagged:
The student used the Iterative Feedback Loop. They didn’t need to relearn English; they just needed to fix the word forms and structure the overview correctly.
Here is the Revised Version (Band 8.0):
“The pie charts compare the proportion of electricity produced by five distinct fuel sources in Canada and China across two separate years, 1990 and 2020.
Overall, it is clear that both countries shifted their reliance away from traditional fossil fuels like coal and oil, moving towards cleaner energy sources. By 2020, hydroelectric power had become the dominant source of electricity in both Canada and China.
In Canada, oil was the primary source in 1990, accounting for 40% of production. However, by 2020, this figure dropped significantly to 25%. Coal saw a modest decrease from 25% to 20%. Conversely, the use of hydroelectric power rose from 25% to 32%, overtaking oil to become the leading source. Natural gas usage more than tripled, jumping from 5% to 18%, while nuclear power remained stable at 5%.
China witnessed even more dramatic changes. In 1990, coal was the dominant source at 37%, but it plummeted to just 5% in 2020. Similarly, oil production decreased from 31% to 25%. In contrast, hydroelectric power grew from 26% to 37%, becoming the top energy source. Notably, nuclear power saw a significant surge, rising from a negligible 1% to 15%, and natural gas matched Canada’s trend, increasing from 5% to 18%.”
Describing numbers requires very specific grammar. You might know how to speak English fluently but still fail this task because you don’t know the difference between “an increase of 10%” and “an increase to 10%.”
The WriteWiseAI IELTS academic task 1 checker is designed to catch these exact mathematical grammar errors.
Don’t let prepositions ruin your report.
This guide is part of our [Ultimate Guide to Improving Your IELTS Writing Score]. Click the link to learn more about our unique feedback method.
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