Band 8.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 8.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-07-26

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The bar chart below shows the top ten countries for the production and consumption of electricity in 2014.

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

Student answer (Band 8.0)

The bar chart compares the production and the usage of electricity in the ten countries that are leading the chart in 2014.

Overall, it can be seen that China is leading the chart in terms of production as well as consumption of electricity, while South Korea has the lowest production and consumption of electricity. The United States of America is the only country whose numbers are close to that of China.

In terms of both production and consumption of electricity, China comes top of the list with a production of 5,398 billion kWh and consumption of 5,322 billion kWh, followed by the United States of America with a production of 4,099 billion kWh and consumption of 3,866 billion kWh. The difference between the production of electricity in China and the United States is 1,299 billion kWh, and the difference in consumption is 1,456 billion kWh.

Germany consumes more electricity, at 582.5 billion kWh, than Brazil's 455.8 billion kWh, France's 462.9 billion kWh, and Canada's 499.9 billion kWh, despite producing less than each of these countries. Production and consumption in Russia are relatively the same. All the countries have higher production than consumption, with the exception of Germany, where consumption exceeds production.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 8.0

The response effectively addresses the task by identifying the main features and providing relevant comparisons. You have clearly highlighted the top two countries, China and the USA, and noted the interesting exception regarding Germany's consumption versus production. The data is accurately reported, and the overview provides a good summary of the trends. To reach a higher band, ensure that you consistently group data points to highlight trends rather than just listing figures. For instance, you could have grouped countries by their production-to-consumption ratio more explicitly to strengthen the analytical aspect of the report.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 8.5

The response is well-organized with a clear logical progression. You have used paragraphing effectively to separate the overview from the detailed body paragraphs. Cohesive devices such as 'In terms of', 'while', and 'with the exception of' are used appropriately to link ideas. The flow between sentences is smooth, and the information is presented in a way that is easy to follow. To improve further, ensure that you vary your cohesive devices slightly more to avoid repetitive sentence structures, though the current usage is already quite effective for this task type.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.5

You have used a sufficient range of vocabulary to convey the information accurately. Terms like 'leading the chart', 'production', 'consumption', and 'exceeds' are used correctly in context. There is a good attempt to use precise terminology related to the data. To move into the higher bands, try to incorporate more sophisticated collocations or synonyms to avoid repeating 'production' and 'consumption' too frequently. For example, using terms like 'energy output' or 'electricity usage' would demonstrate a more flexible and varied lexical range.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 8.0

The writing demonstrates a good command of grammatical structures. You have successfully used a mix of simple and complex sentences, such as the concessive clause 'despite producing less than each of these countries'. The punctuation is generally accurate, and there are very few errors. The sentences are clear and easy to read. To achieve a higher score, you could experiment with more complex sentence structures, such as using participial phrases or passive voice constructions to vary the flow and demonstrate a wider range of grammatical control.

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