The primary means of travelling adopted - IELTS WRITING TASK 1 PIE CHARTS

The charts show the main methods of transport of people travelling to one university in 2004 and 2009

(Pie charts attached at the end)

The pie charts compare the primary means of travelling adopted by people when coming to a university between 2004 and 2009.

Overall, all means of transport recorded an increase in its percentage apart from car and bicycle. It is also evident that car and bus were the two most popular sorts of movement, while the opposite was true for the others.

As it is explicitly observed from the charts, the number of cars used occupied the highest proportion, at around a half in 2004 before decreasing by nearly a quarter 5 years later. Bus, similarly, rose its popularity from 33% in 2004 to almost a half in 2009, making itself from the least prevalent to the most prevailing, at 46% in 2009.

Regarding the remaining types of vehicles, namely train, bicycle and walking, it was bicycle that remained unchanged at around one-tenth in both years. In the meantime, the figure for train slightly rose by a small fraction, invariably standing at the least popular kind of transport in two years. Likewise, the percentage of people going to university on foot increased marginally from 4% to 6% during the time period.

• 
  
  

The summary overview is confusing when it comes to describing the provided images. The images do not compare data between years. That would require an actual length of time depiction in a single pie chart. This image compares 2 years in 2 pie charts. A variation of the previous sentence is what should have been used to explain what images were provided and what these represent. The summary is not accurate and will not receive a passing score.

A more thorough presentation of the trending statement would have provided a complete listing of the modes of transport prior to the measurementtrend. Along with this,a mention of the measurement type is necessary to complete the written descriptive information as it would have created a better mental picture for the reader. The end result would have been a strong and imaginative trending statement.


The report must be based upon the assumption that the reader does not have a copy of the image to refer to. By asking the reader to observe the image, this rule has been violated so deductions will be applied. This is the reason why I emphasized the need for a creative and informative, but not exaggerated data representation. There are specific writing rules to be followed in both tasks.