Cambridge IELTS 21 Test 4 Writing Task 1: Library Users Survey
Cambridge IELTS 21 · Test 4 · Academic Writing Task 1Mixed charts
The pie chart shows the categories of people who use a university library, as percentages of all users, and the table shows the percentage of users who were very satisfied, fairly satisfied or not satisfied with five aspects of the library. The data comes from a single survey, so there is no change over time.
The question
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. WRITING TASK 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The chart and table below show the results of a survey of library users at a university. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words. Write at least 150 words.
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Key features to report
- Full-time students dominate the user base: full-time undergraduates make up 44% of library users and full-time postgraduates 25%, together more than two thirds of the total.
- The remaining users are part-time postgraduates (16%), distance learning students on all courses (8%) and academic staff, the smallest group at 7%.
- Helpfulness of staff receives the best rating by far: 95% of users are very satisfied, 5% fairly satisfied and nobody is dissatisfied.
- Library opening hours are also rated well, with 65% very satisfied, 35% fairly satisfied and 0% not satisfied.
- Resources and facilities attract the most criticism: 20% are not satisfied with the availability of journals, 19% with the reliability of wi-fi and 10% with the availability of books.
- Journals have the lowest very satisfied figure (45%), followed by wi-fi (48%) and books (50%), so service-related aspects score clearly higher than resource-related ones.
Model overview
Overall, the great majority of library users are full-time students, especially undergraduates, while academic staff form the smallest group. Users are most satisfied with the helpfulness of staff and the opening hours, whereas the availability of journals and books and the reliability of wi-fi generate noticeably more dissatisfaction.
Paragraph plan
- 1
Introduction
Paraphrase the task in one sentence: the pie chart breaks down the users of a university library by category, and the table shows how satisfied they were with five aspects of the library.
- 2
Overview
Give one main point from each visual without figures: full-time students are the main users and academic staff the fewest, and staff helpfulness and opening hours are rated best while journals, books and wi-fi cause the most dissatisfaction.
- 3
Body paragraph 1: the pie chart
Report the user groups: full-time undergraduates 44%, full-time postgraduates 25%, part-time postgraduates 16%, distance learners 8% and academic staff 7%. Combine the two full-time groups to show they make up over two thirds.
- 4
Body paragraph 2: the table
Start with the best-rated aspects, staff helpfulness (95% very satisfied) and opening hours (65%), both with no dissatisfied users. Then contrast them with journals (20% not satisfied), wi-fi (19%) and books (10%), noting that only about half were very satisfied with these.
Useful comparisons
- Combine the two full-time groups (44% and 25%) to show that 69% of users are full-time students.
- Contrast all postgraduates (25% full-time plus 16% part-time, 41% in total) with undergraduates (44%).
- Group the two aspects with no dissatisfied users (staff helpfulness and opening hours) against the three with some dissatisfaction (books, journals and wi-fi).
- Contrast the most positive figure (95% very satisfied with staff) with the most negative (20% not satisfied with journals).
- Note that journals and wi-fi have very similar profiles: 45% and 48% very satisfied, and 20% and 19% not satisfied.
- Group the aspects into people and services (staff, opening hours) versus resources and facilities (books, journals, wi-fi).
Band 8+ model answer
207 words · An original model answer written for ieltswrites, not an official answer. It stays in English, as in the exam.
The pie chart shows the categories of people who use a university library, while the table shows how satisfied users were with five aspects of the library.
Overall, the vast majority of library users are full-time students, particularly undergraduates, whereas academic staff form the smallest group. Users were most satisfied with the helpfulness of staff and the opening hours, while journals and wi-fi attracted the most criticism.
Full-time undergraduates account for the largest share of users, at 44%, followed by full-time postgraduates at 25%, so together these two groups make up more than two thirds of the total. Part-time postgraduates represent 16% of users, while distance learning students and academic staff account for only 8% and 7% respectively.
Turning to the survey, the helpfulness of staff was rated most highly, with virtually all respondents (95%) very satisfied and none dissatisfied. Opening hours were also well received: 65% were very satisfied and the remaining 35% fairly satisfied. By contrast, only about half of users were very satisfied with the availability of books (50%), the reliability of wi-fi (48%) and the availability of journals (45%). Journals were the least popular aspect, with a fifth of users not satisfied, closely followed by wi-fi at 19%, compared with 10% for books.
Why this answer scores highly
- Task Achievement
- The answer presents a clear overview covering both the pie chart and the table, selects the key figures for each, and makes useful comparisons such as combining the full-time groups and contrasting service ratings with resource ratings.
- Coherence and Cohesion
- Each visual has its own paragraph, and within the table paragraph the aspects are grouped from most to least positive, linked with devices such as by contrast, turning to and the remaining.
- Lexical Resource
- Percentages are expressed in varied ways, such as more than two thirds, a fifth and virtually all, and the answer uses precise survey vocabulary like respondents, rated and dissatisfaction.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy
- The answer uses relative clauses, comparatives and superlatives, and passive forms such as were rated accurately, and keeps a consistent tense for the survey results.
Useful vocabulary
- library users
- the people who use the library; can be paraphrased as patrons or library visitors
- account for
- make up a particular part of a total, as in undergraduates account for 44%
- the largest share
- the biggest part of the total
- the smallest group
- the category with the lowest percentage
- respondents
- the people who answered a survey
- rate highly
- give a very positive judgement of something
- level of satisfaction
- how pleased people are with something
- dissatisfaction
- the feeling of not being pleased with something
- the availability of resources
- how easy it is to find and use books and journals
- reliability
- how consistently something works well
- a fifth
- 20%, a useful way to vary percentages
- more than two thirds
- over 67%, used here for the 69% of full-time students
- virtually all
- almost all, used for the 95% very satisfied with staff
Common mistakes
- Describing only the pie chart or only the table, or giving one visual far less attention, when both must be summarised and the overview should cover both.
- Using trend language such as increased or decreased, when this is a single survey with no change over time.
- Copying every number from the table in order instead of grouping the aspects that are rated well and those that are rated less well.
- Confusing the two visuals, for example saying 44% of users were satisfied with something, when 44% is the share of full-time undergraduates.
- Claiming that particular groups, such as undergraduates, were dissatisfied with wi-fi, when the table does not break satisfaction down by user category.
- Leaving out the not satisfied column, which contains the most important contrasts.
Frequently asked questions
- Which Cambridge book is this question from?
- This pie chart and table about the users of a university library and their satisfaction is Writing Task 1 of Test 4 in Cambridge IELTS 21 Academic.
- How do I write an overview for two different visuals?
- Give one main feature from each: for example, that full-time students make up most of the users and that staff helpfulness is rated far more highly than resources such as journals and wi-fi.
- Do I need to mention every figure in the table?
- No. The table has 15 figures, so focus on the extremes and the clearest contrasts, such as 95% very satisfied with staff and 20% not satisfied with journals, and group similar aspects together.
- How many words should I write for this Task 1?
- Write at least 150 words; around 170-200 words is enough to cover both visuals and an overview in about 20 minutes.
Free and timed, with a live word count, just like the computer-delivered test. Then get an instant AI band score.
The exam simulator runs on a computer. Open this page on a laptop or desktop to practise.