IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Graduate Destinations Pie Chart & Table (Band 9 Sample)
This Academic Task 1 combines a pie chart and a table: the pie shows what Anthropology graduates from one university went on to do, and the table shows their salaries after five years. A band-9 response gives a clear overview covering both, then reports the key figures accurately. Below is a model answer of roughly 190 words, followed by why it scores 9 on all four criteria.
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01 · The task
The chart and table below give information about the destinations of graduates from an Anthropology department at one university, and the salaries they earned after five years of work. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
02 · Band 9 sample answer
191 words · Band 9The pie chart shows what graduates of an Anthropology department went on to do after leaving university, while the table sets out the salaries they were earning five years later.
Overall, the majority of graduates moved directly into employment rather than further study, and after five years most were relatively well paid, with government-sector workers the most likely to earn the highest salaries.
According to the pie chart, just over half of the graduates (52%) went into full-time work, and a further 15% took part-time work, making paid employment by far the most common destination. Postgraduate study attracted a smaller share — 8% studied full-time and 5% combined part-time work with study — while 12% were unemployed and the destination of the remaining 8% was unknown.
The table reveals that, across all three types of employment, the majority earned $50,000 or more after five years. Government-sector graduates fared best, with fully 50% earning over $100,000, compared with 40% of freelance consultants and 30% of those in private companies. Private-company employees were the most likely to earn the lowest salaries, with 45% earning under $75,000.
03 · Why this scores Band 9
The response covers both the pie chart and the table, opens with an overview that captures the key message of each (most went into work; government-sector earners did best), and reports accurate figures (52% full-time work; 50% of government-sector graduates over $100,000). It selects the significant data rather than listing every value.
The report follows the ideal Task 1 shape — introduction, a combined overview, then one detail paragraph per source. Cohesion is natural — "According to the pie chart...", "The table reveals that...", "compared with", "while" — and the two data sources are linked in the overview rather than treated as unrelated.
Data-description vocabulary is precise and varied — "moved directly into employment", "by far the most common destination", "attracted a smaller share", "fared best", "the most likely to earn" — and comparisons are expressed idiomatically rather than by repeating "more" and "less".
A range of structures is controlled accurately: a "while" contrast linking the two sources, a comparative with "compared with", and a superlative ("the most likely to earn the highest salaries"). Percentages are integrated smoothly into sentences, and the writing is error-free.
04 · Useful collocations for this task
Tap a phrase to see what it means and how to use it. Natural collocations like these lift your Lexical Resource score.
05 · Frequently asked questions
How do I handle a task with two different charts?
Write a combined overview that captures the main message of each, then give one body paragraph to each source. This model overviews both, then reports the pie chart and the table in separate paragraphs — clearer than mixing them together.
Do I need to link the two charts?
A light link in the overview is ideal ("most went into work, and most were well paid five years later"), but the data usually isn't directly connected, so do not force comparisons the charts don't support. Report each accurately.
What tense should I use?
Past tenses, since the data describes graduates who have already left and their salaries after five years ("went into work", "earned over $100,000"). Keep the tense consistent across both sources.
How long should a Task 1 answer be?
At least 150 words; a band-9 answer is usually 170–200. This model is 191 words, enough to give an overview and report both the pie chart and the table accurately. Spend about 20 minutes on Task 1.
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