The graph below shows the sales of five types of items in four different seasons at a departmental store in the US in 2011.

Sales of five types of items in four different seasons at departmental store in US in 2011 - 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 8 · 251 words.

The bar chart compares the sales of five types of items across four different seasons at a department store in the US in 2011.

Overall, it is clear that women's clothes were the best-selling item, whereas the reverse was true for jewellery, which recorded the lowest sales throughout the year. While the sales of women's clothes and cosmetics increased noticeably, those of the other items grew modestly despite some fluctuations.

Regarding the items showing notable growth, women's clothes rose progressively over the period. Starting at 40,000 in winter, this figure doubled to 80,000 in summer before surging to its peak of 110,000 at the end of the timeframe. Likewise, cosmetics experienced noticeable growth, though they fell in spring. In winter, they stood at 30,000, which dropped notably to 25,000 in spring. From that season onwards, their sales grew progressively and finished the period at just over 50,000.

As for the remaining items, less pronounced changes were observed. Men's clothes and sports equipment followed upward trends, with the sales of the former initially dropping from 30,000 to 25,000 and those of the latter rising from just below 30,000 to 40,000. Over the subsequent seasons, both items recorded remarkable growth, reaching about 42,000 and 50,000 respectively, although the sales of sports equipment fell significantly from 40,000 to 30,000 in summer. In contrast, jewellery experienced more modest growth. Beginning at 20,000, the figure fell to 15,000 in spring and bounced back in summer before rising remarkably to 30,000 at the end of the timeframe.

Examiner feedback

This is a high-quality response that demonstrates a strong command of English. The overview is clear and identifies the main trends, while the data selection is logical and well-organized into coherent paragraphs. To reach a Band 9, ensure the tone remains strictly objective and that the most subtle data nuances are captured without any slight inaccuracies in descriptive adverbs.

Task Achievement - 8

- The response covers all requirements of the task, including a clear overview and highlighting key features. - All five categories (Women's clothes, Cosmetics, Men's clothes, Sports equipment, Jewellery) are compared across the four seasons. - Data is used accurately to support descriptions, though some minor omissions in exact data points for every season occur, which is appropriate for a summary.

Coherence & Cohesion - 8

- Paragraphing is used logically and sufficiently to group similar trends (growth vs. modest change). - Cohesive devices such as 'likewise', 'as for the remaining items', and 'over the subsequent seasons' are used naturally. - Reference and substitution (e.g., 'the former', 'the latter', 'the figure') are managed well to avoid repetition.

Lexical Resource - 8

- Uses a wide range of vocabulary related to data description such as 'rose progressively', 'surging to its peak', and 'less pronounced changes'. - Collocations are generally strong ('recorded the lowest sales', 'followed upward trends'). - Minor inaccuracies are rare, though the term 'remarkably' for a change from 15k to 30k is slightly subjective for Academic Task 1.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 8

- A wide range of structures is used accurately, including complex participial phrases ('Starting at...', 'reaching about...'). - The majority of sentences are error-free with precise control of punctuation. - Tense usage is consistently appropriate for a historical period (2011).

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