IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Police Budget Table & Pie Charts (Band 9 Sample)
This Academic Task 1 combines a table showing where a police budget came from with two pie charts showing how it was spent, in 2017 and 2018. A band-9 response gives an overview that draws both sources together, then reports the key figures and changes with comparisons. Below is a model answer of roughly 195 words, followed by why it scores 9 on all four criteria.
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01 · The task
The table below shows the sources of a region's police budget in 2017 and 2018, and the two pie charts show how that money was spent in each year. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
02 · Band 9 sample answer
194 words · Band 9The table shows where a region's police budget came from in 2017 and 2018, while the two pie charts illustrate how that money was divided between three areas of spending in each year.
Overall, the total budget grew over the period, funded largely by a rise in local taxes. On the spending side, salaries consistently took the largest share, although their proportion fell as investment in technology increased.
In terms of income, the total budget rose from £304.7m to £318.6m. This increase came almost entirely from local taxes, which climbed from £91.2m to £102.3m, whereas funding from national government (£175.5m to £177.8m) and other sources (£38m to £38.5m) remained more or less unchanged.
As for expenditure, salaries dominated in both years but dropped from 75% to 69% of the budget. This was offset by spending on technology, which nearly doubled from 8% to 14%, while the proportion allocated to buildings and transport held steady at 17% throughout.
03 · Why this scores Band 9
The response integrates both the table and the pie charts, opens with an overview covering income (up, driven by local taxes) and expenditure (salaries dominant but shrinking as technology grows), and then reports the key figures for each with clear comparisons across the two years. It selects the significant changes rather than listing every value.
The report is logically split — overview, then one paragraph on income and one on expenditure — signposted with "In terms of income..." and "As for expenditure...". Contrast and change are linked naturally: "whereas... remained unchanged", "This was offset by...", "held steady at 17% throughout".
Data vocabulary is precise and varied — "took the largest share", "climbed from", "remained more or less unchanged", "dominated", "was offset by", "nearly doubled", "held steady" — describing both amounts and proportions without repetition.
A range of structures presents the figures accurately: a relative clause ("local taxes, which climbed from £91.2m to £102.3m"), a passive ("This was offset by spending on technology"), and a concessive ("salaries dominated in both years but dropped from 75% to 69%"). The amounts and percentages are reported without error.
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 question with two different chart types?
Deal with them separately after a combined overview — here, one paragraph for the table (income) and one for the pie charts (spending). Trying to merge them in one paragraph usually reads as muddled; grouping by source keeps it clear.
Should I quote exact amounts and percentages?
Yes — report the key figures, but pair them with comparisons ("rose from... to...", "nearly doubled"). Data plus a described trend scores far better than isolated numbers.
What tense should I use?
The past simple, because both years are in the past ("the budget rose", "salaries dropped"). Keep it consistent, and use the passive where useful ("was offset by").
How long should a Task 1 answer be?
At least 150 words; a band-9 answer is usually 170–200. This model is 194 words, enough for an overview plus the income and expenditure details. Spend about 20 minutes on Task 1.
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