Skip to content

IELTS Writing Samples

IELTS essay samples (writing task 2), report and letter samples (writing task 1) with Band Scores, marked by IELTS teachers, including comments and suggestions on how to increase your score

IELTS Report, topic: Two tables comparing workers of foreign and US birth in the United States (from IELTS High Scorer’s Choice series, Academic Set 1)

This is a model response to a Writing Task 1 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is close to IELTS Band 9.

Set 1 Academic book, Practice Test 3

Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The two tables below show statistics of workers of foreign and US birth in the United States last year.


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

You should write at least 150 words.

Two tables comparing workers of foreign and US birth in the United States (from IELTS High Scorer's Choice series, Academic Set 1 book)

Sample Band 9 Report

The two tables compare from last year the number of workers in the US that were of US birth to the number of workers who were of foreign birth. The tables include divisions of the workforce by gender and by age, summarising the total number of workers in the workforce, the number of employed and unemployed workers and finally the unemployment rate. All figures are in thousands.

Overall, it can be seen that in spite of the much larger numbers involved with the US birth workforce, the total unemployment rates were quite similar for the two cohorts.

When looking at the breakdown of the figures by gender, the male foreign birth workforce suffered a lower unemployment rate (8.9%) than the male US birth workforce (10.6%), whereas the female foreign birth workforce suffered a higher unemployment rate (11.1%) than the female US birth workforce (8.5%). Overall, the foreign birth workforce suffered a marginally higher rate of unemployment (9.8%) than the US birth workforce (9.6%). The total US birth workforce in size was significantly larger (129,533 people) than the total foreign birth workforce (24,357 people).

When looking at the breakdown of the figures by age, the younger of the foreign birth workforce (16 – 24 and 25 – 34) suffered from lower unemployment rates than the workforce of native birth, however, the foreign workforce older than these bands suffered higher unemployment rates.

Go here for more IELTS Band 9 Reports

IELTS Letter, topic: Complaining about rubbish collection services

This is a model response to a Writing Task 1 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is close to IELTS Band 9.

Set 1 General Training book, Practice Test 4

Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

You and your neighbours have noticed that the rubbish collection services where you live have recently been quite bad.

Write a letter to your local council. In your letter,

– explain what you have recently experienced
– explain what the neighbours have recently experienced
– ask what action will be taken to improve the service

You should write at least 150 words.

You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir / Madam,

Sample Band 9 Letter

Dear Sir / Madam,

My name is Amanda Rosewell and I am a resident of the city of Harpley. I am writing this letter in my name and on behalf of my neighbours on Bristwood Avenue, as we have experienced very poor rubbish collection services recently.

For around three months, the trash I put out at my gate on the correct day is only collected irregularly, and when it is, some is left behind. My neighbours have had similar experiences, if not worse, with one woman not having her rubbish collected for eight weeks and another family dealing with unfriendly and incompetent rubbish collectors. Apparently, their waste container was broken by the harsh handling of the collectors, and the family’s children have been scared by their unfriendly comments.

Although I have called the rubbish collection service hotline, the company’s employees have not taken my complaint seriously and nothing has changed the current situation. I would therefore like to ask what you as the local city council can do in order to improve this state of affairs, as the rubbish collection services do not react to any feedback from dissatisfied citizens.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Amanda Rosewell

Go here for more IELTS Band 9 Letters