The table provides information about various academic and employment statistics for three Canadian universities: Brandon, Seaford, and Harrison.

Academic and employment statistics for three Canadian universities Brandon Seaford and Harrison - IELTS Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

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

Write at least 150 words.

A student's answer to this task, and the feedback on it

Written by an IELTSX user under exam conditions and published unedited and anonymously. Band 7.5 · 212 words.

The table presents a comparison of four key academic and employment indicators across three Canadian universities: Brandon, Seaford, and Harrison.

Overall, Harrison University demonstrates the strongest performance across most categories, particularly in student course completion, lecturer teaching quality, and graduate employment outcomes. Brandon University generally shows the lowest figures in almost all areas, while Seaford occupies a middle position but performs relatively poorly in student completion rates.

Harrison stands out with the highest percentage of lectures rated highly (50%), followed by Seaford at 45% and Brandon at only 40%. This suggests Harrison provides the most positively perceived teaching quality among the three. In terms of lecturers holding a PhD qualification, Seaford leads with 50%, compared to Harrison at 42% and Brandon significantly lower at 30%. Thus, while Harrison excels in teaching ratings, Seaford has the highest proportion of PhD-qualified staff. For student course completion, Harrison again performs best at 78%, with Seaford at 70% lagging noticeably behind, whereas Brandon at 80% shows a slightly stronger retention rate in this specific metric.

Finally, graduate employment rates follow a clear pattern: Harrison achieves the highest at 82%, followed by Seaford at 78%, and Brandon at the lowest with 72%. This indicates Harrison graduates enjoy the best employment prospects, with a 10-percentage-point advantage over Brandon.

Examiner feedback

This is a strong response that demonstrates a high level of linguistic control and logical organization. The overview is clear and the comparisons are well-integrated. The only significant issue is a slight contradiction in the data regarding student completion rates which prevents a higher Task Achievement score.

Task Achievement - 7

- The response covers the requirements of the task by identifying key features and providing an overview. - There is a slight inaccuracy in the data description: the text states Brandon has 80% completion but the overall summary says Harrison is strongest in completion. - All major trends and comparisons between the three universities are clearly highlighted.

Coherence & Cohesion - 8

- Information and ideas are logically sequenced with a clear progression from introduction to overview to specific data paragraphs. - Cohesive devices such as 'Finally', 'In terms of', and 'Thus' are used effectively and naturally. - Paragraphing is appropriate and supports the logical flow of information.

Lexical Resource - 8

- A wide resource is used fluently to convey precise meanings (e.g., 'retention rate', 'perceived teaching quality'). - There is skillful use of uncommon items and good control of collocations. - Spelling and word formation are accurate with no noticeable errors.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 8

- A wide range of structures is used with flexibility and accuracy. - The majority of sentences are error-free, utilizing complex structures like 'while Harrison excels... Seaford has...'. - Punctuation is well managed throughout the response.

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