ACADEMIC WRITING TASK 1
The table below gives information about student enrolments at Manchester University in 1937, 1967 and 2017.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Manchester University Student Enrolments
BEST IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, 21st November
1937 1967 2017
How many new students enrolled? 327 1133 6254
What percentage were female? 45% 35% 55%
What percentage were male? 55% 65% 45%
What percentage came from within 40 miles of Manchester? 55% 15% 1-2%
What percentage came from overseaes? 6% From 4 countries 7% From 6 countries 32% From 102 countries
BEST IELTS Academic Writing Task 1, 21st November
SAMPLE ANSWER
In the table we can see information about the numbers of students enrolling at Manchester University in the three years, 1937, 1967 and 2017. It compares the percentages of females and males, and also students from abroad and those from within 40 miles of the city.
The most noticeable changes concern the overall growth of student numbers, from 327 in 1937 to 6254 in 2017, and the proportions of local students, who constituted 55% of the total in 1937, but only 1-2% in 2017.
It is surprising to note that the percentage of female enrolments did not rise steadily, but dropped between 1937 and 1967. However, at the same time, the percentage of the student population who came from abroad remained almost unchanged between 1937 and 1967, being 6% and 7% respectively, but rose markedly after that, so that by 2017 foreign students represented 32% of the total.