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Line graph: Renewable share of energy consumption

Pick out the main features of this line graph for your overview, write your report on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model answer.

WRITING TASK 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The graph below shows the proportion of total energy consumption that came from renewable sources in three countries between 1995 and 2020.

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

Write at least 150 words.

Renewable share of energy consumption
Line graph: Renewable share of energy consumption (%). The values are in the data table below.0%10%20%30%40%50%199520002005201020152020
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Poland
Show data table
Renewable share of energy consumption
CategoryDenmarkFrancePoland
19957%6%5%
200010%7%5%
200515%7%6%
201022%11%9%
201530%14%12%
202040%19%16%

GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.

What your overview should say

An overview names the main trends or differences in one or two sentences, without numbers. These are the features a strong answer picks out:

  1. 1Overall, renewables supplied a growing share of energy in all three countries, with Denmark clearly the leader.
  2. 2Denmark's share climbed from 7% to 40%, and the rate of growth accelerated from 2005 onwards.
  3. 3France and Poland followed similar but flatter paths, ending at 19% and 16% respectively after staying at around 5% to 7% for the first decade.

Write it on the clock

Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.

20:00

0 words of 150 minimum

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Band-8 model answer

Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.

Show model answer (189 words)

The line graph compares the proportion of total energy consumption supplied by renewable sources in Denmark, France and Poland between 1995 and 2020.

Overall, the renewable share increased in all three countries, but Denmark advanced far more quickly than the other two and finished well ahead. France and Poland followed similar, much more modest upward trends.

Denmark began at 7% in 1995, only slightly above France at 6% and Poland at 5%. Its share then rose steadily to 10% in 2000 and 15% in 2005, before accelerating to 22% in 2010 and 30% in 2015. By 2020 it had reached 40%, almost six times its starting level.

France's share barely moved for the first decade, standing at 6% in 1995 and 7% in both 2000 and 2005. It then increased more noticeably to 11% in 2010 and 14% in 2015, ending at 19% in 2020. Poland was consistently the lowest, with figures of 5% in 1995 and 2000 and 6% in 2005. Its growth was slow but steady thereafter, with 9% in 2010 and 12% in 2015, and 16% in 2020, which was still 24 percentage points below Denmark.

Useful vocabulary

PhraseMeaning
renewable sourcesenergy from wind, solar and similar supplies
share of consumptionthe proportion of total use
climb steadilygo up in a regular way
remain flatshow almost no change
a gradual increasea slow rise
outperformachieve better results than

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