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.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The graph below shows the number of road deaths per 100,000 people in four age groups in one country between 1995 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
| Category | 17–24 | 25–39 | 40–64 | 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 28 | 16 | 12 | 14 |
| 2000 | 26 | 15 | 11 | 15 |
| 2005 | 21 | 13 | 10 | 14 |
| 2010 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 12 |
| 2015 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 11 |
| 2020 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 10 |
GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.
An overview names the main trends or differences in one or two sentences, without numbers. These are the features a strong answer picks out:
Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.
0 words of 150 minimum
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Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.
The line graph shows the number of road deaths per 100,000 people in four age groups in one country between 1995 and 2020.
Overall, the death rate fell in every age group, with the steepest decline among the youngest drivers. The 65+ group, which began with only the third-highest rate, ended with the highest.
The 17–24 group had the highest rate in 1995, at 28 deaths per 100,000, and it fell sharply to 21 in 2005, 14 in 2010 and 9 in 2020, a reduction of more than two-thirds. The 25–39 group started at 16 and followed a gentler decline, to 13 in 2005 and 7 in 2020.
The 40–64 group consistently had the lowest rates among the working-age groups. Its figure decreased from 12 in 1995 to 10 in 2005 and 6 in 2020.
The 65+ group showed the least change. Its rate rose slightly from 14 in 1995 to 15 in 2000, then eased to 12 in 2010 and 10 in 2020. By 2015 it had caught up with the youngest group, with both at 11, and in 2020 it was the highest of the four, 10 against 9.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| road deaths | fatalities caused by traffic accidents |
| fall steeply | decrease quickly |
| the steepest decline | the biggest drop |
| per 100,000 people | a rate relative to population size |
| become the highest | reach the top position |
| in contrast | used to show a difference |
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