Key features to report

• The largest group in both years is students who speak no other language, and its share rises from 30% in 2000 to 35% in 2010.
• As a result, the proportion who speak at least one other language falls from 70% to 65%.
• Spanish shows the biggest change: the share speaking only Spanish halves from 20% to 10%, so it drops from the most common foreign language to joint lowest.
• French only also falls, from 15% to 10%, while German only is the one category that stays the same at 10%.
• The two remaining categories grow: students speaking another language (not French, German or Spanish) rise from 15% to 20%, and those speaking two other languages rise from 10% to 15%.
• Changes should be described in percentage points, and because the charts show proportions, not numbers of students, you cannot say how many students spoke each language.

Model overview

Overall, the proportion of students who spoke no language other than English increased and remained the largest group in both years. While the shares speaking only Spanish or only French declined, the proportions speaking another language or two other languages grew.

Paragraph plan

1. 1

   Introduction

   Paraphrase the task in one sentence: the pie charts compare the percentages of British students at one English university who could speak languages other than English in 2000 and 2010.

2. 2

   Overview

   Give the main points without figures: monolingual students were the largest group and grew, French-only and Spanish-only speakers fell, and the shares speaking another language or two other languages rose.

3. 3

   Body paragraph 1: monolingual students and the decreases

   Report the rise in students with no other language from 30% to 35%. Then describe Spanish only halving from 20% to 10% and French only falling from 15% to 10%, and note that German only stayed at 10%.

4. 4

   Body paragraph 2: the increases

   Describe the rise in students speaking another language from 15% to 20%, making it the second largest group in 2010, and the increase in those speaking two other languages from 10% to 15%.

Useful comparisons

• Contrast the categories that fell (Spanish only, French only) with those that rose (no other language, another language, two other languages).
• Combine figures to show the bigger picture: students speaking at least one other language fell from 70% to 65%.
• Compare rankings: Spanish only was the second largest group in 2000 but joint smallest in 2010, while another language became the second largest group.
• Highlight the only stable category, German only, at 10% in both years.
• Point out the slight paradox that more students spoke no other language, yet more also spoke two other languages.

Band 8+ model answer

195 words · An original model answer written for ieltswrites, not an official answer. It stays in English, as in the exam.

Why this answer scores highly

Task Achievement

The answer identifies the key trends, including the growth of the monolingual group and the sharp fall in Spanish, supports them with accurate figures for both years and includes a clear overview without numbers.

Coherence and Cohesion

Information is grouped logically into categories that fell and categories that rose, and the 2000 and 2010 figures are compared within the same sentence using devices such as while, by contrast and meanwhile.

Lexical Resource

Precise vocabulary such as halved, remained unchanged, the second largest group and a fifth varies the description, and the topic is paraphrased with monolingual and other languages instead of repeating the key.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

The answer uses past tenses accurately for the two years and includes relative clauses, comparative structures and participle phrases with no errors.

Useful vocabulary

monolingual

able to speak only one language

bilingual

able to speak two languages

proficiency

a good level of skill in something, such as a language

the proportion of students

the part of the total number of students, used to paraphrase percentage

percentage points

the arithmetic difference between two percentages, e.g. from 30% to 35% is a rise of 5 percentage points

halve

fall to half of the previous figure

remain unchanged

stay at the same figure

the second largest group

the category with the second highest share

a fifth

20%, a useful way to vary percentages

a slight increase

a small rise

account for

form a particular part of a total

whereas

used to compare two contrasting facts in one sentence

Common mistakes

• Saying that the number of students speaking a language increased or decreased, when the charts only give percentages of the total.
• Describing each chart separately in two paragraphs instead of comparing the same category across 2000 and 2010.
• Missing the most important change: the halving of Spanish-only speakers from 20% to 10%.
• Forgetting that another language means a language other than French, German or Spanish, and treating it as the same as two other languages.
• Copying the misspelling langauges from the chart key; always write languages correctly.
• Writing an overview that lists figures instead of summarising the overall direction of change.

Frequently asked questions

Which Cambridge book is this question from?

These pie charts about the languages spoken by British students at one university in 2000 and 2010 are Writing Task 1 of Test 2 in Cambridge IELTS 11 Academic, published in 2016.

Should I describe each pie chart in a separate paragraph?

It is better to compare the two years category by category, for example grouping the categories that fell and those that rose. This makes comparisons easier and shows the key changes clearly.

Which tense should I use for these charts?

Use past tenses, because both years, 2000 and 2010, are in the past, for example the proportion rose from 30% to 35%.

How many words should I write for this Task 1?

Write at least 150 words; about 170-200 words is enough to give an overview and the main comparisons in around 20 minutes.