Source: Adapted from free practice material published by IELTS buddy. Reformatted here; the original lesson pages are worth visiting.
One full Academic Writing paper: 60 minutes, both tasks, no pausing.
Task 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The two pie charts below compare employment patterns in Great Britain by sex in 2010.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
The charts themselves aren't reproduced here — the images didn't survive the PDF conversion. The figures below are a dataset written to match the prompt so the task is still practisable. They are not the original numbers.
| Category | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time employment | 62% | 38% |
| Part-time employment | 8% | 40% |
| Self-employed | 18% | 8% |
| Unemployed | 8% | 6% |
| Other (student, retired, carer) | 4% | 8% |
Two pie charts, one per sex, each totalling 100%.
Task 2
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Some people think that children should be taught at school to recycle materials and avoid waste. Other people believe that children should be taught this at home.
Discuss both opinions and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.
Write at least 250 words.
Watch the task type. This is a Discuss Both Views essay, not an opinion essay. You must cover both positions properly and then give your own — an essay that argues only for school teaching cannot score above Band 5 for Task Response, however well written it is.