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Topic:The three pie charts below show the changes in annual spending by a particular UK school in 1981, 1991 and 2001.Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.My essay:The three pie charts compare the differences among the expenditures per year of a British school in a period of three years: 1981, 1991, 2001.Overall, spending on teacher's salaries accounts for the highest percentage in all three years, 40%, 50%, and 45% respectively. In contrast, the cost of insurance had the lowest contribution in terms of money spending, only 2% in 1981, 3% in 1991, and 8% in 2001.Expenditure on other workers' salaries saw a downward trend, declined from 28% in 1981 to only 15% of spending by the end of the period. Spending on resources e.g. books rise slightly by around 5% and then fall dramatically between 20% in 1991 and only 9% in 2001. Conversely, the cost of furniture and equipment went down to only 5% of total expenditure in 1991 and continued going up significantly in 2001, made up of 23% in the school budget. Thank you for your kindness!

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

You wrote exactly 150 words. It is better to write 170-190 to be on the safe side.

The three pie charts compare the differences among the expenditures (That is not accurate. Differences of expenditures would be amounts of money, e.g. 234,500 pounds sterling in 1981 versus 439,233 in 2001. ) per year of a British school in a period of three years: (That is a span of 20 years, not three.) 1981, 1991, 2001. (You did not mention the categories..)

Overall, spending on teacher's salaries accounts for the highest percentage in all three years, 40%, 50%, and 45% respectively. In contrast, the cost of insurance had (You mix past and present tense. A Task 1 essay needs to be consistent in the use of tenses to describe the information.) the lowest contribution ~~in terms of money spending~~, (You do not need to repeat this.) only 2% in 1981, 3% in 1991, and 8% in 2001.

Expenditure on other workers' salaries ~~saw~~ (wrong word. Expenditures cannot see!) had a downward trend, declined (wrong verb form) from 28% in 1981 to only 15% in 2001. ~~of spending~~ ~~by the end of the period~~. Spending on resources ( e.g. books ) rise slightly by around 5% and then fall dramatically between 20% in 1991 and only 9% in 2001. Conversely, the cost of furniture and equipment went down to only 5% ~~of total expenditure~~ in 1991 and continued going up significantly in 2001, made (wrong verb form) up of 23% in of the school budget.

Sample essay.

Paragraph 1: Describe the figure. Here are two examples.

The three pie charts, dated 1981, 1991 and 2001, compare the percentages of yearly spending in one UK school on five budget categories. These are teacher’s salaries, other salaries, furniture and equipment, resources (e.g books), and insurance.

The three pie charts, dated 1981, 1991 and 2001, give a break down of the total spending of a UK school into five budget categories. These are teacher’s salaries, other salaries, furniture and equipment, resources (e.g books), and insurance.

Paragraph 2: Point out 2 or 3 main features.

Overall, the highest proportion of spending, over two-thirds, went to the non-discretionary spending categories: salaries and insurance. The category with the largest relative increase over this 20-year period was insurance. The proportion allocate to discretionary spending (resources, furniture and equipment) was fairly constant.

Paragraph 3: Describe some interesting details. Normally, I would select only a few details for paragraph 3, so the total would count would add up to 170-190. Here are many sentences that could be used. Essay writers that combine categories together get higher marks. It makes sense to combine similar categories 1) the salaries, 2) salaries plus insurance (nondiscretionary spending) and 3) the discretionary spending categories (furniture, resources, and equipment). If you just copy the values off the chart, you may have perfect grammar, but the examiner will not give you a high score.

The greatest proportion of this school's budget went to paying employees. In 1991, salaries made up just over two-thirds of the school's budget (68%), with teachers taking 40% and other staff 28%. This had risen slightly to 72% by 1991, with the 10% rise in the teacher's salaries offset by a 6% decline in that of the other workers. In that year, teachers' salaries took up half of the budget, the largest proportion of all three years. In 2001, the total percentage devoted to salaries had dropped to 60%, 45% for teachers and 15% for non-teaching staff.

The two categories representing discretionary items, furniture and equipment and resources, had a large variation individually, ranging between 5% to 23% for the former and 9% to 20% for the latter. But when taken together, the sum was relatively consistent, 30% in 1981, 25% in 1991 and 32% in 2001. The relative cost of insurance, the smallest category, increased much more than any of the others. It required only 2% of spending in 1981, and quadrupled to 8% in 2001.

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