Energy Consumption by Sector in the United Kingdom, 1990 to 2020
A complete IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 question with a model answer of 216 words, plus a breakdown of the sentence structures, cohesive devices and vocabulary that answer uses. Write your own version first, then compare.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Score my answer to this questionThe question
You have 20 minutes. Write at least 150 words.
The table below shows total energy consumption in the United Kingdom, broken down by sector (industry, transport, residential and commercial), measured in million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 1990, 2005 and 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words. [Table — UK energy consumption by sector, in million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe)] Sector | 1990 | 2005 | 2020 Industry | 47 | 39 | 27 Transport | 45 | 56 | 47 Residential | 39 | 49 | 41 Commercial | 18 | 21 | 18 Total | 149 | 165 | 133
How to approach it
- 01Group sectors by the shape of their trend — falling throughout, rising then falling, flat — rather than describing each row in order
- 02Lead with a clear overview that captures the overall rise-then-fall and the sector that bucked the trend
- 03Use proportional language for the long-term winner and loser ('declined by more than 40 per cent')
- 04Refer to the totals at least once to give the reader context for sector-level shifts
- 05Use trend vocabulary: 'rose steadily', 'peaked at', 'eased back', 'returned to its starting point'
Model answer
216 words in 4 paragraphs. Read it after you have written your own, not before: the point of a model answer is to show you what you missed, and you cannot miss anything you have not attempted.
The table compares the energy consumed in the United Kingdom across four sectors — industry, transport, residential and commercial — in 1990, 2005 and 2020, with all figures expressed in million tonnes of oil equivalent.
Overall, total UK energy demand rose between 1990 and 2005 before falling back below the 1990 level by 2020, while the share contributed by each sector shifted markedly. Industry shrank steadily across the period, transport surged then declined, and household and commercial use peaked in the middle year before returning close to their starting points.
Grouping the changes by direction of travel, industry stands out as the only sector to fall in every period. Consumption dropped from 47 Mtoe in 1990 to 39 Mtoe in 2005 and again to 27 Mtoe by 2020, a cumulative decline of more than 40 per cent that reflects deindustrialisation and efficiency gains. Commercial use was almost flat over the thirty years, rising slightly to 21 Mtoe in 2005 before returning to its 1990 figure of 18 Mtoe.
Transport and residential demand followed a different pattern. Transport energy climbed from 45 to 56 Mtoe between 1990 and 2005, becoming the largest single sector, before easing to 47 Mtoe by 2020. Residential consumption similarly rose from 39 to 49 Mtoe in 2005 and then fell back to 41 Mtoe.
What this answer actually does
Measured from the text above, and compared against the other 38 answers of the same type in this library. These are counts, not band scores: they describe what the writing does, which is the part you can copy.
8.5 more than the median answer for this task type
8 words at the shortest, 34 at the longest
the same as the median answer for this task type
carry a subordinate or relative clause
Sentence rhythm
Sentences average 24 words and vary by 7.6 words either side of that, running from 8 words to 34. Variation is the point. Grammatical Range and Accuracy rewards a mix of simple and complex sentences, and an answer where every sentence is the same length reads as flat no matter how correct it is. 2 of the 9 sentences here carry a subordinate or relative clause.
The cohesive devices it uses
5 in total, spread across 4 different functions. Range matters more than count: an answer that opens every paragraph with a sequencer signals its structure but never signals a relationship between ideas, and Coherence and Cohesion is marked on both.
while
similarly
then
overall
Vocabulary and repetition
Ignoring grammar words, 68 per cent of the content words in this answer are distinct, and 54 per cent appear exactly once. Lexical Resource is where repetition costs the most marks, and the usual cause is not a small vocabulary but reaching for the same noun every time the topic is named.
The longest run of words copied straight from the question is 6 words. Examiners discount wording lifted from the question, so a short run here is the right outcome: the answer restates the topic in its own words rather than borrowing the question's.
What you are marked on
All four criteria carry equal weight, and your Writing band is their average rounded to the nearest half band.
Task Achievement
Cover the main shifts across sectors and the overall trend, with comparisons over the three time points
Coherence & Cohesion
Group sectors by behaviour rather than describing each row in isolation
Lexical Resource
Range of trend and proportional vocabulary used accurately
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Use complex sentences with accurate past tenses and contrasting structures
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