IELTS Academic Writing Task 1/ Graph Writing – Column Charts:
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The charts below show what UK graduate and postgraduate students who did not go into full-time work did after leaving college in 2008.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Destination of UK graduates (excluding full-time work) 2008
Destination of UK postgraduates (excluding full-time work) 2008
Model Answer:
The column charts illustrate what UK graduates and postgraduates chose to do in 2008 if they did not move into full-time employment. The categories shown include part-time work, voluntary work, further study and unemployment.
Overall, most UK students – both graduates and postgraduates – decided to enrol in further study in 2008, while voluntary work was the least common choice made by them. Despite the differences in numbers, the relative preferences between the two groups were almost identical.
Among graduates, well over 29,000 individuals opted to continue their studies, making this by far the most popular route. Part-time work was the second most common activity for them, drawing more than 17,000 graduates, whereas unemployment affected just over 16,000 of them. Only a small minority, around 3,500, chose voluntary work after they completed their graduation.
A similar pattern appears among postgraduates, though on a much smaller scale. Approximately 2,700 of them chose further study, compared with close to 2,500 who took part-time jobs. Around 1,600 remained unemployed, while just 350 entered voluntary roles.