Pick out the main features of this pie chart 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 pie charts below show the subjects chosen by university students in one country in 2000 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
| Category | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Business | 28% | 24% |
| Engineering | 14% | 22% |
| Arts | 24% | 12% |
| Medicine | 10% | 16% |
| Science | 12% | 18% |
| Other | 12% | 8% |
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 pie charts compare the subjects chosen by university students in one country in 2000 and 2020.
Overall, the subject mix shifted towards engineering, medicine and science and away from arts, business and other subjects. Business remained the most popular choice in both years, although its lead narrowed.
In 2000 business was the most popular subject, at 28%, followed by arts at 24%. Arts then fell sharply to 12% in 2020, exactly half of its former share, and business also declined, to 24%. It nevertheless remained the largest category.
Engineering recorded the biggest increase, rising from 14% to 22%, which moved it from third place to second. Science grew from 12% to 18%, while medicine increased from 10% to 16%. Together, these three subjects attracted 56% of students in 2020, compared with 36% in 2000.
The proportion of students choosing other subjects also fell, from 12% to 8%. As a result, among the leading subjects, the difference between the most popular and the second most popular subject shrank from 4 percentage points to just 2.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| field of study | subject area |
| gain popularity | become more chosen |
| at the expense of | causing a loss for |
| almost halve | decrease to nearly half |
| remain the most popular | stay in first place |
| science | natural sciences |
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