Task1 Tips Academic Ielts

Strategies for improving your
IELTS score
Selecting information
In completing this task, it is important that you fully describe all of the
graphic information given. However, this does not mean that you
should note every detail. In most cases there will be too much
information for you to mention each figure. You will therefore need to
summarise the graph in meaningful segments. In other words, you
will describe the significant trends in your report.
Report structure
As in the line graphs task, your report should be structured simply
with an introduction, body and conclusion. Tenses should be used
appropriately.
Use two standard opening sentences to introduce the graph or
graphs and your report. These opening sentences should make up
the first paragraph. Sentence one should define what the graph is
about, that is the date, location, what is being described in the graphs
etc. For example:
The pie charts compare the highest level of education achieved by
women in Someland across two years, 1945 and 1995.
Notice that in the single line graph we said that the graph shows' but
with two charts we can more accurately say the pie charts compare.
Note the tense used. Even though it describes information from the
past, the graph shows the information in the present time.
Notice that the sample opening sentence does not simply copy the
words used on the graphic material. Copied sentences will not be
assessed by the examiner and so you waste your time including
them.
Sentence two (and possibly three) might sum up the overall trend.
For example:
It can be clearly seen that women received a much higher level of
education in Someland in 1995 than they did in 1945.
Notice the Simple Past tense is used. Here we are talking about what
happened in the past.
The body of the report will describe the chart or charts in detail. You
will need to decide on the most clear and logical order to present the
material. In this case it might be best to work through the charts one
by one.
Ideally your report should end with one or two sentences which
summarise your report or draw a relevant conclusion.
Grammar and vocabulary

You will receive a higher mark if your writing uses a range of
structures and vocabulary correctly rather than a limited number.
Pie charts generally show figures in percentages and your language

in writing the report should reflect this. You will talk about the
percentage of graduates or the proportion of people who completed
secondary school.
Make sure that you are confident with comparatives and superlatives
used to compare and contrast and the language used to describe pie
charts.
IELTS Writing - Academic Task 1 -
Types of Charts
In the IELTS Academic Task 1, you must be able to identify,
understand and describe various types of graphic information.
This is considered an important academic skill, because it shows
you can intelligently and clearly interpret and describe data
presented in charts, tables, graphs and diagrams. If you have
written your answer very well, even someone who cannot see
the graphic should be able to understand what happened.
5 STEPS TO MASTERING ACADEMIC TASK 1
To prepare yourself to complete Task 1, follow the five steps
below:
Learn to recognize and identify different graphic forms, such as
line graphs, bar charts, pie charts, etc.
Know what key information, comparisons and trends to look out
for.
Practice using the specific vocabulary required to describe those
trends.
Learn how to follow a plan to start, complete and finish your
answer. Use sample Task 1 questions, included on this website,
to practice writing out a full response. At first, do not time
yourself. Later, once you've got the hang of it, time yourself and
make sure you finish in 20 minutes.
Know what NOT to include in your response.
By following the steps above, you will be prepared and
confident, no matter what type of question appears in Task 1 of
your actual IELTS exam.
STEPS 1 & 2 IDENTIFY TYPES OF CHARTS, LOOK FOR TRENDS

BAR CHARTS
A bar chart consists of rectangular bars arranged horizontally or
vertically from the x or y axis.
IELTS Bar Chart
The length of a bar shows the values it represents. The values
are listed on one axis and each bar shows what is being
measured on the other axis. Bar charts are useful for comparing
data. In studying a bar chart, you may want to look for the
following information:
Which is the tallest bar?
Which is the shortest bar?
Have the bars changed over time? How?
How do the bars compare to each other?
PIE CHART
A pie charts is a circular chart divided into sectors or pie slices. It
presents information in segments of a circle or pie, which
together add up to 100%. Here's an example:
IELTS Pie Chart
Ask yourself:
Which is the largest segment?
Which is the smallest segment?
How do the segments compare with each other?
LINE GRAPH
A line graph plots the changes in data over time:
IELTS Line Graph
Ask yourself:
What is the highest level / point?
What is the lowest level / point?
Is there a point till when the trend was increasing or decreasing?
When did the trend change?
TABLES
A table presents information in different categories, making it
easy to compare.
The sample table below shows the percentage of students who
came to college on foot, by car, bicycle or public transportation,
at Williams College in the year 2005-2006.
Method of Student Travel to College by Percentage
Walking 12
Bicycle 20
Car 25
Public Transport 43
Look out for the following:
What is the highest figure?
What is the lowest figure?
What is second highest, etc.?
STEP 3 VOCABULARY OF TRENDS
To get high marks on the Academic Task 1, you must show the
examiner that you know how to use a range of vocabulary to
describe and interpret visual information. You must be able to
use the appropriate verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs to
provide precise descriptions.
For a detailed list of essential vocabulary, check the section of
this website on Vocabulary for Task 1.
STEP 4 WRITE YOUR ANSWER ACCORDING TO A PLAN
To be able to complete Task 1 in 20 minutes or less, write your
answer according to the following plan:
Write one sentence to introduce the subject and graphic.
Write one or two sentences to show the relationship between
the data or to comment on the main trend.
Write an in-depth description of the information given. Include
details from the most important to the least important,
depending on time.
Write one sentence to conclude your answer.
STEP 5 - WHAT NOT TO WRITE
Only describe the data. Don not give your interpretation of it.
You are not being asked why you think the data in the chart is
the way it is, so do not write about that.

Introduction of Task 1
Types of graphs
Bar - Pillar graph
Line - Linear or Poly line graph
Pie chart - Circular graph
Table - Tabular/Column chart
Picture Pictorial
Process Flow chart
Map Diagram
Given :- rendered, yielded, given, provided

Graph:- representation, manifestation, presentation
Shows:-delineates, depicts, reflects, throws, sheds, casts light on,
demonstrates, indicates, exhibits, describes
Exp:- The yielded pillar representation sheds light on variations related to
(age groups) which are likely to be witnessed in two countries during the
given period of time.(2001-2008)
Or
Time:- over a 20 year span(1981-2001)
Introductory lines for paragraph 1st

1. Preliminary probe makes , it is stated /seen that
2. At the very first glimpse it can be derived from graph that
3. At the cursory /fleeting glance ,it is immensely /apparently seen that
4. Having a birds eye view, it is crystal clear that
5. Prima facie , it is conspicuous that
6. Having the apercu , it is quite evident that
Sentences for 2nd body Paragraph
Meticulously observing the rest part of the chart
Further scrutinizing and extracting the key/feature
Zeroing in on next circular representation
Probing /moving/investigating the rest part of the graph
In reference ,Another important pattern that emerged from the data
analysis
Conclusion expressions
To encapsulate, it is abundantly clear that
In encapsulation , it is categorical that
The gist is that , it could be that
At the eleventh hour,
The essence is that
The sum and substance of the matter is that
In compendium,
To wrap up
In a long run
Summing up
To finish off
At last to recapitulate
To curtail/to nut shell
Vocabulary to show changes

Increase
Verb form Noun form
Rise a rise
Increase an increase
Go up an upward trend
Uplift a growth
Rocket inclination
Climb Elevation
Upsurge Escalation
Soar
Escalate
Hike
Incline
Elevate
Grow
Leap
Jump
Mushroom
Decrease
Verb form noun form
Decline a fall
Plummet a reduction
Plunge a decline
Drop a drop
Reduce a downward trend/
Fall down tendency
Dwindle diminution
Shrink contraction
Slump Depletion
Diminish deterioration
Go down
Go southwards/downwards
Mitigate
Lessen
Words describe the speed of change

Or
Adverbs and intensifiers

Rapidly * Gradually
Quickly *Gently
Swiftly *Steadily
Sharply *Slightly
Dramatic *Slowly
Drastically *Continuously
Noticeably *Moderately
Exponentially *Persistently
Tremendously *Considerably
Abruptly *Minimally
Substantially
Enormously
Markedly
Overwhelmingly
Immensely
Massively
Tops and bottoms

Peak Point Bottom out
Acme .reached a bottom
Pinnacle .sank to a trough
Zenith .tumble down
Apex .Take a nose dive
Summit .Reach to dip
Northward trend .hit to lower point
At highest point .southward trend
Reached to peak .fiasco failure
Ever rising trend .collapsed
Top slot .Downward trend
Lions share .Nadir of the chart
Upward trend . hit the trough
Unprecedented figure . ever lowest figure
Hit the crest/roof .Rise at a galloping
Gallop .pace
Sky-rocketed
Boom
Zoom
Take a quantum jump
No movement :- (verbs with Adjectives,

verbs)
Remain steady . Levelled off
Were unchanged .Freeze
Remained constant .Stagnate
Remained stable .Remained stuck
Stabilized .reached a plateau
Remained relatively unchanged
The sale showed stability/stabilization/stagnation
Represent frequent changes in graphs

Fluctuate . an undulate path
Vacillate . oscillating
Palpitate
Wave
Ups and downs
A zig zag trend
An erratic trend
Volatile behavior
Vicissitude
Synonyms
Earn:- Attain, acquire, gain profit, consummate, drive, obtain, make fast
buck
Consumption:- swallowing, using up, utilization, expenditure
Different:- peculiar, various, changed, particular, distinctive, distant ,
distinct, at variance
Kinds:- classification, kin, sort, type, variety, Ilk
Country:- agrarian, provincial, rustic, Arcadian
Rate:-amount, degree, percentage, quota, ratio, proportion , scale, weight
Participation:- concurrence, sharing, taking part
Popularity: - Esteem, regard, renown, vogue, heyday, well received
Products:- commodity, fabrication, merchandise, outcome, stock, offshoot
Show :- array, manifestation, exposition, splash, spectacled, pageantry
Subscription:- dues, support, pledge
Transport:- carriage , carrier, conveyance
Between:- amidst, betwixt and between, in the midst of, midway, at
interval
Passenger:- commuter, voyager, way farer, patron
Journey:- campaign, expedition, sojourn, saunter, stroll, ramble
Visit:- sojourn, visitation, travel-expedition, ramble, trekking, voyage
Residents:- citizen, denizen, dweller, habitants, inhabitant, suburbanite
Prepositions
Between 1995 and 2000
From 1950 to 2000
Sales rose from 200 to 250
Sales fell to 150 in march
Sales fell by 50 %
The graph can be of following types

Line graph- (generally used to show trend)
Bar chart-(generally used to show trends)
Pie chart (generally used to show contribution or sharing)
Table-(can be used to show any of the above mentioned function)
Process diagram or flow chart or picture or map
There are two main grammatical structures we can use to describe trends.
1. There + be + adj. + noun + in + noun phrase
Example:
There was a gradual (adjective) rise in the price of oil.

There has been a sharp (adjective) drop in the price of oil.
2. Noun phrase + verb + adverb
Example:
The price of oil rose gradually.
The price of (phrase) oil(noun) rose(verb) gradually

(adverb).
The price of oil has risen(verb) dramatically (adverb).
Describing Increases and Decreases
When describing any of the charts in IELTS writing task 1, you might have
to describe increases and decreases. There are three main ways you can
describe increases and decreases.
1. Noun phrase + verb + adverb
Example:
The price of property fell sharply

The percentage of homes dropped dramatically.
2. There + be + noun + in + noun phrase

Example:
There was a fall in literacy levels.
There has been an increase in the cost of coffee.
3. Using fractions
Example:
The price of oil halved in less than a year.
The price of oil have halved since July.
By July, the price of oil has halved.
Making Comparisons
IELTS writing task 1 will often require you to make comparisons between
data sources, groups and times. Here are five grammatical structures you
can use to make comparisons.
1. More/few/less + noun + than
Example:
Overall, more people preferred public transport than taxis.
2. of one syllable -er + than
Example:
A higher number for people preferred public transport than taxis.
3. More/less + adj. of more than one syllable + than
Example:
Taxis were more popular than public transport.
4. of one syllable -est.
Example:
The highest % of commuters preferred taxis.
5. The most/least + adj. of more than one syllable.
Example:
The least popular mode of transport was buses.
.Tenses
Using the appropriate tenses in IELTS writing task 1 is essential if you
want to get a high band score.
The key is to look at the title of the chart and the information contained
on both axes to establish what time frame is used. This will help you
establish what tense you should use.
Example:
If the time is one point in the past, for example January 1990,
then we should use the past tense.
If it has projections for the future, for example 2045, we
use future tenses.
It there is no time, we use present simple.
Below are a range of tenses that could be used in task 1. Remember,

the tense you use will depend on the information displayed in the
graph. This is not a complete list of tenses and an awareness of all the
English tenses will help you achieve the IELTS score you need.
1. Present Perfect:
We use this tense generally to talk about an action that happened at

an unspecified time before now. The exact time period is not
important.
In writing task 1, we use this tense to talk about changes in data that
have happened over a period of time.
Example
The price of oil has fallen by $5 a barrel every week since July.
2. Present Perfect Continuous
We use this tense to show that something started in the past and has
continued up until now.
Example
Oil prices have been decreasing since July.
3. Future Perfect
We use this tense to state that something will be finished by a

particular time in the future.
We often use it with by or in.
Example
The price of oil will have reached $300 a barrel by 2020.
4. Past Simple
Use this tense to talk about an action that started and finished at a
specific time in the past.
Example
The price of oil fell from $150 in Jan 2014 to $50 in Jan 2016.
Vocabulary for future related graphs

Is forecast
Is expected to
Is projected to
Is anticipated to
SENTENCE STRUCTURE :-
Going by specultation - make the sentence with [will be +3rd form]
As per the projection will+1st form of verb
The odds are that [will +1st form of verb]
May, fluctuate from [ in 2019 to 2030 ]
EXAMPLES-
1.The sale is likely to rise considerably to 70%in 2030 from 40%in

2025.
2.Going by speculation , the sale will rise considerably to 70%in 2030

from_.
3.The odds are that the sale will stand at 40% in 2025 as against 70%in
2030.
4. The sale is anticipated to stand at 40% in 2025 vis-a vis 70%in 2030.
EXAMPLE ;-
1.Production might/could well escalated erratically from 32% in 2020 to

56%in 2040 .
[Active]:- It is in offing that the sale will display a considerable rise of

30% .
[Passive]:- considerable rise of 6% is likely to be displayed by the sale.
Approximations, Percentages and Fractions

In many of the IELTS writing task 1 questions you will have to deal
with percentages. This is a good opportunity to express these
percentages in a different way and boost your score. A way of varying
this language is to express them as fractions or proportions.
Remember that you should vary your language as much as possible in

order to score high in the lexical resource part of the test.
It is also fine to use approximations, for example, 49% can be

expressed as nearly a half.
Below are a range of expressions that can be used to express

percentages.
Fractions
73%- nearly three quarters
51%- just over a half
49%- just under a half
32%- nearly a third
3%- a tiny fraction
50%- exactly a half

26%- roughly one quarter
49%- around a half
24%- almost a quarter
77%- approximately three quarters
Proportions
70%- a large proportion
71%- a significant majority
15% a small minority
3%- an insignificant minority
NUMBERS/PERCENTAGES
1) One third = 1/3 = 33.33%
33% of students preferred studying English

Almost ONE THIRD of students preferred studying English.
2) Two thirds = 2/3 = 66.66 %
64% of women said they went shopping once a month

Just under TWO THIRDS of women said they went shopping once a
month
3) One tenth = 1/10 = 10%
10% of teenagers said they owned a laptop

ONE TENTH of teenagers said they owned a laptop
4) A quarter = 1/4 = 25%
It can be seen from the graph that only 25% of women in VN were
single.
It can be seen from the graph that only A QUARTER of women in VN
were single.
5) One fifth = 1/5 = 20%

As can be seen from the chart, 20% of female students in Beijing passed
the IELTS test
As can be seen from the chart, ONE FIFTH of female students in
Beijing passed the test
6) Two fifths = 2/5 = 40%
The chart shows that 40% of doctors in England are male.

The chart shows that TWO FIFTHS of doctors in England are male
7) Half = 1/2 = 50%

It is clearly seen from the pie chart that 50% of women in Vietnam liked
shopping
It is clearly seen from the graph that HALF of women in Vietnam liked
shopping
Adverbs:
1) just under
Number: 9% Just under a tenth of
2) just over
Number: 43% Just over two fifths of
3) approximately
Number: 51% Approximately a half of
4) nearly
Number: 23% Nearly a third of
5) almost
Number: 49% Almost half of .

The Vocabulary of Numbers
This is part of a short introduction to writing about Graph
numbers
There are some special words for numbers, fractions and
percentages.
Look at the following table which shows a number in different

years (1990-1995) :
1990 1995
1200 1800
You could describe the above table using numbers,
fractions orpercentages:
The number went up by 600, from 1200 to 800. (Number)
The number went up by half, from 1200 to 1800. (Fraction)
The figure went up by 50%, from 1200 to 1800. Percentage)
The figure went up 50%, to 1800. (Percentage)
1992 1994 1996 1998
500 1000 3000 12000
Use trebled, -fold, and times:

The number doubled between 1992 and 1994.
The number trebled between 1994 and 1996.
The figure quadrupled from 1996 to 1998
There was a twofold increase between 1992 and 1994.
The figure went up sixfold between 1992 and 1996.
The figure in 1996 was three times the 1992 figure.
The figure in 1998 was four times the 1996 figure.
1992 1994 1996 1998
1000 800 400 100
Use Fractions:
Between 1992 and 1994, the figure fell by one-fifth.
Between 1994 and 1996, the number dropped by a half.
The figure in 1998 was one-tenth the 1992 total.
.
Variation in sentences
Similar words meaning to become greater in
number; to go up:
to rise (v)
Prices rose from $10 to $15 within 3 months. Prices rose by 50%.
Note: Dont confuse the verbs rise (to become more)
with raise (to make something rise). Ex. School fees are set to
rise. Our school has raised their fees by 5%.
As a noun: There was a rise of %5 in school fees.
to increase (v)
Birth rates in New Zealand stood at 20,000 at the start of this
period and increased to a peak of 66,000 in 1961.
You can use increase from (a number) to (a number); increase by (
number/percentage), increase in value/price.
Note: Dont use increase to refer to the level or standard of
something.
As a noun: There was an increase in house prices for the first 5
years.
to grow (v)
The population of internet users grew the fastest in Canada during
this period.
As a noun: Canada experienced the fastest growth in Internet
usage.
to soar (v) to fly upward, like a bird; rise to great heights
While sales of Product B remained steady, sales of Product
A soared during the fourth quarter.
to rocket/to skyrocket (v) similar to soar to fly upward to great
heights
By 2030 the elderly Japanese population is predicted to
skyrocket 150% within one or two years. OR By 2030 the
proportion of elderly Japanese is predicted to skyrocket to 25%of
the population within one or two years.
to spike (v) to increase quickly then fall down again
On the other hand, house prices spiked in the first two months after
the recession.
As a noun: There was a spike in house prices in the first two
months after the recession.
to jump (v)
New gym memberships jumped 10% immediately after the
Christmas holiday period.
As a noun: There was a 10% jump in new gym memberships
immediately after the Christmas holiday period.
to hit/reach a peak (v) a peak is the highest point/level
From there, the audience level continues to rise sharply, reaching a
peak of 45% of the population between 6 and 10 pm, also aptly
known as prime time.
to reach a high (v) similar to reach a peak
Conversely, audience levels for radio reaches a high in the
morning by 9 am.
an upward trend (n)
The graph shows an upward trend in household access to modern
technology in the UK from 1996 to 2003.
to double (v) increase 2 times
to triple (v) increase 3 times
House prices nearly doubled in that time period.
Similar words meaning to lessen,

diminish, go down:
to decrease (v)
From that point, marriages decreased steadily until 1970 hitting a
low of about 250,000.
As a noun: From that point, there was a steady decease
in marriages until 1970 when it hit a low of about 250,000.
to decline (v)
Although Australian exports increased slightly in the first year to its
peak in 1986, it gradually declined to about 11 million tonnes in
1990, remaining the smallest of the three exporters.
As a noun: Although there was an increase in Australian exports in
the first year with a peak in 1986, there was a gradual decline by
1990 and remained the smallest of the three exporters.
to drop (v)
From 10 pm, audience levels drop dramatically to nearly 1% by 2
am.
As a noun: From 10 pm there is a dramatic drop in audience
levels to nearly 1% by 2 am.
to dip/ to take a dip (v) to decrease but goes up again
Between the 2nd and 3rd quarter, sales of Product D took a dip of
10%, but later regained growth by the 4th quarter.
As a noun: There was a 10% dip in Product D sales between the
2nd and 3rd quarter followed by growth by the 4th quarter.
to fall (v)
From 10pm, audience levels fall sharply to nearly 1% by 2 am.
As a noun: From 10 pm there is a sharp fall in audience levels to
nearly 1% by 2 am.
to plunge (v); to plummet (v) to fall quickly
to hit bottom (v); to reach a low (an all-time low) (v)
a downward trend (n)
Overall, we can see a downward trend in marriages between 1951
and 2003.
Similar words/expressions that mean to stay the same:

to stabilize (v) to hold at a steady level
After a 10-year period of fluctuations, the total value stabilized at
roughly 30% until 2005.
to remain/hold steady (v) ; to remain stable (v); to
remain/stay constant (v) ; to remain/stay the same (v)
By contrast, the figures for Japan remained steady just under 5%
until the early 2000s.
Remarriages, on the other hand enjoyed a slight increase from
1971, but overall remained stable throughout the century, reaching
around 100,000 by 2003.
to remain flat (v) show no growth or little change
to level off (v) after a period of change or shift, there is little
movement and stays level
to plateau/to reach a plateau (v) to reach a stable level
to bottom out (v) to descend to the lowest point possible, after
which only a rise can occur
Exports continued to grow until it plateaued in 2002 for 5 years,
after which it fell and then bottomed out by 2009.
Other useful vocabulary:

to fluctuate (v) to change continually shifting up and down
Student enrollment fluctuated wildly, but the trend was clearly
upward.
As a noun: There were wild fluctuations in student enrollment, but
the trend was clearly upward.
to surpass (v) to pass another and go beyond in amount, level or
degree
Although mobile phones started with the lowest accessibility in
1996, it surpassed the usage of home computers at the beginning of
1999.
to exceed (v) to go beyond in quantity, amount or degree
In terms of following their budgets, Project X came in under their
budget by 5K, whereas Project Y exceeded their budget by 25K.
What do examiners care about?
So, what do the examiners care about most, since they dont expect you to
have perfect grammar? Sentence structure.
A variety of sentence structures is the most important factor in order to get

a 6 or higher for your grammar score.
As you probably know, in Writing Task 1, you will most likely be given a
graph, table or chart to write about.
Basically, you need to be able to choose the most important numbers you
see and compare them in your response.
There are actually two types of number questions Change OverTime

(usually a line graph, showing how numbers change over time, such as The
Number of Factories from 2000-2015), or Static (often a table or bar chart,
showing numbers for one point in time, such asPeople with Full-time Work in
One European City, 2014).
Sentence structures you should use:
Below are three high level sentence structures, and examples, for both of
these question types.
1. As / While A verb, B verb (at the same time). [linking words]
Change Over Time example: While the number of factories in Taiwan

increased dramatically to 100,000 in 2006, the quantity in Japan plummeted
to 1,000 at the same time.
Static example: As the number of females in full-time work stood at 300 in

2014, the amount of working males stood at 500.
2. In comparison to A, which verb, B verb. [relative clauses]
COT example: In comparison to the number of factories in Taiwan, which

saw an increase to 100,000 in 2006, the quantity in Japan plummeted to
1,000 at this time.
Static example: In comparison to the number of females in full-time work,

which stood at 300 in 2014, the amount of working males stood at 500.
3. A verb, v-ing, (which verb). [adjective clause + relative clause]
COT example: The number of factories in Taiwan saw an increase to

100,000 in 2006, exceeding the quantity in Japan, which had only 1,000.
Static example: The number of males in full-time work reached 500 in

2014, exhibiting a higher number than all the other categories provided.
Graphs: Types of Graphs

You are likely to meet only two types of graphs in IELTS or other intermediate English
tests time and comparison graphs. (Sometimes you can get both in the same test!)
In time graphs you have to describe changes over time.
In comparison graphs you have to compare different items countries, people,
products, places, etc.
The vocabulary for each kind of graph is different:
In time graphs you use time vocab to describe change: rose, fell, declined, shot up,
increased, remained steady, etc.
In comparison graphs you compare: twice as much as, more than, less than, the
same amount, both X and Y have the same figure, etc.
Time Graphs
Here is a time graph.

You have to compare different methods of transport used in the US over the last century
train, bus and air.
You could start with
train (because it is the oldest method)

by air (because it is the biggest method of public transport today.)
However, dont start with bus because it is very small and not the main idea
The main trend with rail transport is that it rose to a peak in the 1920s and 1930s and then
declined.
The main trend with air is that it started late, in the 1960s, but it has shot up to become by
far the biggest carrier of passengers.
Comparison Graph
Here is a comparison graph.
You have to compare the amount of water used for domestic, agricultural
and industrial purposes.
There are two ways to write about this graph:
by country (make groups, e.g. Saudi Arabia and Oman, which have
mainly agricultural use, then Bahrain and Kuwait which have mainly
domestic use, etc)
by use (Agriculture, then Domestic, then Industrial.)
If you decide to write by describing use, you could start with Agriculture
because it is the biggest user. Group together Saudi Arabia and Oman as
the top users, and then group UAE and Qatar as the middle group of users,
using 60% of water for agriculture. Finally mention Bahrain and Kuwait.
Your second paragraph should be about Domestic use, the use of water in
the home, because it is the second biggest use. Start with Kuwait and
Bahrain (grouped together) (more than 50%) and then write about
Qatar and the UAE.
COMPLEX SENTENCES
Below are useful high level sentence structures which you can
utilize to get a higher score for IELTS Writing Task 1.
1. As / Whereas/ While X verb, Y verb (at the same time).
While the figure for factories in Japan went up dramatically to 120,000 in

2010, the quantity in Korea plummeted to 12,000 at the same time.
2. Clause, followed by + Noun Phrase
There was a dramatic growth in the number of factories in Japan to 120.000
in 2010,followed by a sharp decrease to 1,000 in 2015.
3. Clause, prior to/before Verb-ing
The number of factories in Japan experienced an increase to 120,000 in 2010,

before hitting a free fall to 1,000 in 2015.
4. Clause, after Verb ing
The figure for factories in Japan hit a free fall to 1,000 in 2o15,
after undergoing an increase to 120,000 in 2010.
5. In comparison to/with X, which verb, Y verb.
In comparison with the number of factories in Japan, which witnessed an

dramatic increaseto 120,000 in 2010, the quantity in Korea plummeted to
12,000 at this time.
6. X verb, Verb-ing, (which verb).
The quantity of factories in Japan went through a period of

dramatic increase to 120,000 in 2010, exceeding the number in Korea, which
had only 12,000.
Prepositions
Trend vocabulary
Preposition problem 1 by and to

Prepositions are horrid in English. Have another look at the graph:
Note how these two sentences
mean exactly the same:
The rate of unemployment rose to 12% in 2010.
The rate of unemployment rose by 5% in 2010.
Preposition problem 2 in and of
This one is harder. We use in to describe changes in things and of to describe
changes in number or amount. For example,
There was a rise in the rate of unemployment

There was a rise of 5% in the rate of unemployment.

The most basic trend vocabulary a few variations

Lets look at this graph and see what words we need to describe it. Put simply we
need language that describes
up (2009 to 2010),
down (2008 to 2009),
up and down (between 2006 and 2009)
no change (2006 and 2007)
the top (2010)
The trend vocabulary I am going to suggest may seem very basic. It does, however,
allow you to say the same thing in up to 6 different ways.Thats good.
Tip: if you find yourself repeating a word, try changing the form of it from a verb to a
noun
You should also note that, even with this basic language, there are a variety of
grammar problems that cause many candidates problems. Thats bad.
Up variations
Down variations
Up and down
Sometimes you need to describe a graph that goes up and then down. Here we
have fewer options.
No change
Top
LINE GRAPH
The general format for writing academic

writing task 1 is as following:
Introduction + Basic/ General Trends + Details Description +
Conclusion.
.Example :
1. The provided diagram shows data on employment categories in energy producing sectors in
Europe starting from 1925 and till 1985.
NOTE 1. For a single graph use 's' after the verb, like - gives data on, shows/ presents etc.
However, if there are multiple graphs, DO NOT use 's' after the verb.
2. If there are multiple graphs and each one presents different type of data, use can write which
graph presents what type of data and use 'while' to show a connection. For example -'The given bar
graph shows the amount spent on fast food items in 2009 in the UK while the pie chart presents a
comparison of people's ages who spent more on fast food.
3. Your introduction should be quite impressive as it makes the first impression to the examiner. It
either makes or breaks your overall score.
Comparing and contrasting

structure
1.Describing one part of the chart
Starting with the adjective

The highest
The greatest
are employed in the X
The lowest percentage of women
category
The most proportion of cars sold
are red
A significant number of holiday makers
come from Spain
The smallest
The largest
Starting with the subject:
Red is the most popular car colour
Professional is the second/third most prevalent employment category
Spain is the least common holiday destination
2.Describing two parts of the chart

Starting with the adjective:
As many
Twice as many
as
Three times as many
Not as many red cars are sold
women are employed in X

More
holiday makers come from X
Far more
than
Much more
Many more
A lot more
Substantially more
Considerably more
Significantly more
Slightly more
Fractionally more
Starting with the subject:

as
quite as
common
just as
popular as
nearly as
prevalent
almost as
not as
Blue cars are more
Women are much more
Spain is far more
substantially more
women
considerably more
cars sold than
slightly more
holiday makers
fractionally more
less
much less
far less
considerably less
fractionally less
The graph below shows the unemployment rates in

the USA and Japan between March 1993 and March
1999.Summarise the information by selecting and
reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.
You should write at least 150 words.
First Step (worked out): Analise:
It is a line graph with 2 lines. The graph is asking to summarise the main
features of the unemployment rate.
Second Step (worked out): Collecting data/information:
Time: From March 1993 to March 1999.

Theme: Unemployment rates of USA and Japan.
Place and Position: USA and Japan.
Main Point: The unemployment rate has decreased in the USA and has
increased in Japan.
General Trend: Initially unemployment rate was higher in the USA than
Japan but over the period the USA managed to reduce the rate and in case
of Japan the reverse was true.
Effects & Result: Effects: unknown. Result: as General Trends.
Conclusion: Unemployment rate was higher in the USA than Japan but
over the period the USA managed to reduce the rate and in case of Japan
the reverse was true.
Third Step: Essay Planning:
You should make a plan after you are done with the first 2 steps. This step
involves the following orders.
a) Writing a balanced Introduction.
b) Writing a general trend
c) Detailed description of the figure and supporting the description.
d) Describing the results.
e) Writing the conclusion.
How to write a balanced introduction:

The introduction part of a writing is very important hence it reflects your
skill of writing. Readers decide whether to read further or completely avoid
the whole writing after reading the introduction. So in every writing
introduction part should be very organised. In case of IELTS academic
writing task 1, you should use the following structure and vocabularies to
write a balanced introduction.
What it is (table/ graph/ chart/ diagram/ picture/ flow chart)
What it does (presents data/ shows comparison/ summarize / contrast/

give projection or prediction)
What about (in this case the unemployment rate)
Place (in this case US and Japan)
Time (in this case 1993 to 1999)
Presentation of X and Y axis (here X axis represents time and Y axis

represent percentage of work force)
Other relevant information.
Example: The provided line graph provides information on unemployment

rates in USA and Japan from March 1993 to March 1999. Here the bold line
represents the unemployment rate of Japan and the dotted line for the
USA. In the provided line graph the X axis shows time with one-year
interval and the Y axis represents unemployment rate.
How to write a better general trend:
The general trend part should be immediately after the introduction part. It
is recommended to write the general trend parts in the same paragraph
with the introduction. The general trend part should focus the main point
of the presentation and should not be too large with lots of information.
However you should not give the specific figure, time, amount or data
presented in the graph, rather try to use daily life English to make the main
reader interested about the whole writing. You can use phrases like As is
presented/ as is observed / in general / in common etc. to start this part.
Example: As is observed from the graph, initially in 1993 the

unemployment rate in the USA was significantly higher than that of Japan.
But over the 6 years, the USA managed to reduce this rate and the reverse
was true for Japan where unemployment rate increased in these 6 years.
How to write an attractive details description:
The Detailed description part comes after the introduction and general
trend and should be written in the second paragraph. In this part, you
should describe the graph / table / chart / diagram etc. While describing,
keep in mind that, you are not expected to write down all the data provided
in the question, rather your ability to describe the presentation in general
English.
The things you should follow in this part :
Use appropriate tense to describe the data.

Use transitional words like, besides, as well as, likewise, in addition,
additionally, again, on the other hand etc. to make your sentences relevant
and coherent.
Try to mention the initial, highest, lowest and projection points.
Things you should avoid in this part:
Do not describe all the data and facts presented in the graph.
Don't include your own opinion, imagination or solution.
Don't use contractions (can not=can't, do not =don't etc, will not=won't)
in your writing.
Example: As is presented in the line graph, in March 1993, United States

had about 7% of their workforce unemployed, which might not seem high
unless it is compared to to the unemployment rate of Japan in the same
year, where only 2.5% workers were unemployed. However, the
unemployed rate in the USA began to decrease slowly having a fluctuation
till 1996 and reached to around 5%. On the contrary, the unemployment
rate in Japan got an upward trend and doubled in 5 years. The
unemployment rate of both countries intersected in the middle of the year
1998. Afterwards, the unemployment rate in the USA remained roughly the
same (about 5%) having a similar ratio to that of Japan.
How to describe the results:
If you want to and really need to describe the result of the graph, then write
it at the end of the detailed description. However, if results-writing makes
something repeated ( those that has already been described), then you do
not need to write the result apparently.
Example: The USA managed to decline their unemployment rate from 7%

to almost 5% in 6 years but on the other hand the rate has increased in
Japan from only 2.5% to approximately 5%.
How to write a good and efficient conclusion:
The conclusion is an important part of the whole writing and that is why
you must be careful to write a better conclusion. The conclusion part of the
Academic IELTS writing 1 is also knows as summarising. So write down the
main point/theme of the graph in short. You should never include your own
point of view, personal opinion or suggestion to solve a problem in
conclusion. In some cases of Academic IELTS writing task 1, it optional to
write the conclusion, hence the data are already described and summarised
before the conclusion. However, if you need to write the conclusion part,
use one of the following words to start the sentence:
In conclusion / in short / to conclude / to sum up / in brief / in summary

etc.
Example: It conclusion, the unemployment rate in the USA decreased in 6

years and the opposite scenario was true for the Japan.
BAR GRAPH
Some of the most important language in task 1 is the compare and contrast
vocabulary. This is because the instructions tell you to
make comparisons where relevant
If you want to score well, you need some different ways to compare and
contrast. Here are some variations to help you out. It is not all
about more and less.
1. Comparisons between sentences
One way to make comparisons is to start a new sentence with a word/phrase
that shows that you are about to make a comparison with the previous
sentence. The basic words you need here are:
In contrast
The most popular form of holiday among the Welsh was self-catering with
over 60% choosing to cook for themselves. In contrast, only 5 % of the
English chose this form of vacation and hotel accommodation was much
more popular at 48%.
In comparison
Almost 50% of the English, Scots and Northern Irish chose to stay in a hotel
for their holiday. In comparison, staying in self-catering accommodation
was much less popular with around 10% of people choosing this.
However
The general pattern was for hotel accommodation to be the most popular
with around half the people choosing it. The majority of the Welsh, however,
chose to stay in self-catering accommodation.
On the other hand
It is clear that a majority of the British chose to stay in hotel for their
holiday. On the other hand, there was an exception to this because over 50%
of the Welsh opted for self-catering accommodation.
Note that we normally use a comma after In contrast and In comparison.
Note that there are lots of different ways to use compare and contrast and
these are just the most basic examples. If you are looking for a higher band
score, its good advice to learn different ways to use these words.
Note too that typically however is not used as the first word in a sentence.
2. Comparisons within sentences
Another possibility is to compare two pieces of information within the same
sentence. The basic words you need here are:
while
While there are 4 million miles of train lines in the UK, there are only 3
million in France.
whereas
Whereas the majority of the French prefer to travel to work by train, only a
small minority of the British do.
although
Although 15% of the French read novels, only 5% of the British do.
but
Almost 25% of French females study maths with a private tutor, but nearly
60% study English with one.
3. Comparisons with more or less/fewer
This is another obvious way to make comparisons and contrasts. You should
note though that you are normally going to compare numbers and nouns and
not adjectives. You want to remember these two key bit of grammar:
Than
Remember that after more/less/fewer we use than
5% more girls chose to read books than go to cinema.
Fewer/less
If the word is uncountable we use less, if it is countable we use fewer:
Fewer mobiles phones were bought in 2013 than 2014.
Less oil was consumed in 2013 than 2014.
4. Qualify your comparisons with much/far/slightly
or a number
This is similar. The idea here is that you still use less/more/fewer but this time
you explain how much. Typically, the best way to do this is to use a number:
Far fewer people chose to travel by train than by car. [Wheres the detail?]
25% fewer people chose to travel by train than by car. [Better now we
have detail and not just a comparison]
5. Comparisons with most or least/fewest
When you are looking for details to include, the highest/lowest number is
almost always important. This too is a form of comparison.
The most popular form of entertainment in the UK was going to the cinema.
The least common form of transport was taking a taxi.
6. Comparisons with similar or same or as..as
Dont forget that some of the numbers you will be comparing are similar.
These are the basic words and structures you need.
Similar (to)
The percentages of females and males who studied languages at university
were very similar.
A similar amount of gas and electricity was used domestically in homes.
The figures for 2012 were very similar to the figures for 2013.
Same as as
The percentage of females who studied at university in 2011 was almost
exactly the same as in 2012
7. Comparisons with differ/different/difference
If something is similar, it can also be different! Here is another set of basic
variations for you:
The amount of time spent at home differed by almost 25% according
to gender.
There was a difference of over 25% in the amount of time males and females
spent at home.
This figure was very different among males, only half of whom watched
television.
8. Comparisons with numbers
Another way to make comparisons is to do some simple arithmetic! Here are
some simple variations:
[5 million] more/less/fewer
5 million fewer units of gas were sold in 2014.
Twice
Twice as many people elected to use gas and not electricity for cooking [note
the twice as as structure]
Twice the amount of gas was used for cooking in this period. [note that we
amount with uncountable nouns]
Three/four etc times
Four times as many people chose to heat their house with electricity as with
gas.
Half
Half the number of people chose to use gas as electricity.
Electricity was half as popular as gas for cooking.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Graphs: The Vocabulary of Numbers
Key features
We now see what the 2 key features that need to be reported are. Remember these
will be the topics of our 2 content paragraphs :
1. the distinction between men and women
2. how certain purposes of travel are more common than others (how long the
lines are)
Supporting detail: men and women
Looking at the lines this is what I see and needs to be included:
1. little or no difference in walking holidays and personal business
2. more men in education, entertainment and commuting

3. more women in school run, visiting friends and shopping
4. many more women in school run (5% difference)
5. many more men in commuting (8% difference)
Supporting detail: purposes
This is fairly straightforward as all you need to do is arrange the different categories
into an order showing the most common and least common purposes.
1. commuting and shopping much the most common (around 20% average)
2. visiting friends and school run both around 15% average
3. personal business just under 10% average
4. sport/entertainment around 7% average just more than education at 6%
5. least common is walking and holidays at around 3% each
Note the % figures here are averages of the male/female numbers.
Tip: when you have many different categories, it is a good idea to group them
together under a few headings
A possible answer
There are, of course, many possible answers to this task. Here is one solution.
This bar chart shows the different reasons for making journeys in the UK in 2006
and how males and females differed in this.
It is immediately apparent that the most common purposes for travelling were
commuting and shopping, both being around 20 per cent of trips. The next most
common reasons were visiting friends and doing the school run at 15%, closely
followed by personal business at around 10%. Travelling for sport and entertainment
(7%) was only just more common than journeys for educational purposes (6%).
Finally, the fewest number of trips were travelling for holidays and walking, both of
which accounted for around 3 per cent of all journeys.
Typically, there were few major differences between males and females. In holidays,
personal business and walking both sexes took approximately the same amount of
journeys, while slightly more men travelled for educational purposes and more
women visited friends. Notably, almost twice as many men as women travelled for
entertainment reasons and, likewise, around 7% more men commuted to work. The
two areas in which women travelled significantly more than men were shopping and
the school run.
PIE CHART
The key point is that whatever the chart looks like the language you need is the
same. Take a look at these 3 pie charts and ask yourself what language you
need.
A chart with percentages
A chart without any numbers
A chart with numbers
The answer should be obvious. When you look at all three pie charts, you
should see that you need exactly the same language: its the language of
percentages. By definition the whole pie is 100% and each share of that pie
is also a percentage. It should make little or no difference how the pie chart is
labelled.
Tip: if you see a pie chart without % figures written in, dont panic. Consider
what the % must be.
Different ways to describe

percentages
Another possible problem is that you find yourself repeating the word
percentage. Here are some helpful variations for you. There are variations
possible in almost every case: using a fraction or a synonym such
as proportion.
Notes
1. percentage is more correct than percent (per cent is the correct spelling,
though no one I know uses it!)
2. amount is correctly used only with uncountable nouns: the variation for
countables in number
You are here: Home / Writing Task 1 / IELTS Writing Task 1 Maps Lesson
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main

features, and make comparisons
The following pie charts show the results of a survey into the most popular
leisure activities in the United States of America in 1999 and 2009.
Step 1: seeing the big picture

The first step is to identify the main points of the two charts. This is not just an
important part of the task and your band score, it will also help you write your
description. The main points are normally obvious. Sometimes they are so
obvious that candidates ignore them. Look at these questions:
1. How many activities are there in each chart? Just count
2. Are the activities the same in each chart? Read the key
3. Are there any changes in popularity between the two years? Look at the
colours
You should get these answers:
1. There are 8 activities for each year
2. 7 of 8 activities are the same
3. There are a number of differences in popularity between the two years.
All you need to do now is put that into English and you have the main points
of the report. Adding in a short description of the task we have:
These two pie charts show the changes in popularity of different leisure
activities in the United States of America between 1999 and 2009. We can see
that the most popular leisure activities were almost the same in both periods,
but there were a number of differences in popularity between the various
activities.
Step 2: choose the details to include
There are 16 different figures you can include. This is too many. The task is to
select and report the most important details. This will include naming all the
activities, but not all the numbers. To do this, try looking for:
1. the biggest number
2. the smallest number
These are generally important details to include. You should also consider
what changes beween the two charts, not least because the task asks you to
make comparisons. So, ask yourself:
1. whats gone up
2. whats gone down
3. what hasnt changed
4. whats new
Putting this together, we need these details:
1. walking is most popular in both periods
2. yoga disappears and weightlifting is new
3. swimming doubles
4. aerobics, jogging and cycling all fall
5. soccer and camping dont change much
Step 3: organise your report
This will vary from task to task, but typically you will be looking at two content
paragraphs. As you write your paragraphs, you want to think of three key
ideas:
highlight the main points they come first
group similar ideas together
find a logical structure to present the points
In this case, I would go with this structure:
Paragraph 1
walking is much the biggest slice of the pie in both years
weightlifting is new and yoga has gone
It is clear that walking was the most popular activity in both 1999 and 2009
with around 30% of Americans saying that they preferred it. Also, yoga was no
longer among the preferred activities in 2009, but weightlifting was chosen by
10% of people.
Paragraph 2
refer to the other activities in order of popularity in 2009 soccer and

swimming first, jogging and aerobics last
note the biggest changes cycling, jogging and aerobics all big fallers,
swimming the big riser.
The second most popular activity was soccer at just under 20% in both years, a
figure that was matched by swimming in 2009, having almost doubled in
popularity over the previous decade. Most of the other activities became less
popular over the same period of time, with cycling, jogging and aerobics all
falling by at least a half to under 10%. The one exception to this trend was
camping which stayed almost unchanged at around 9%.
Step 4: get the vocabulary right

This is the big one and will take time to learn. To help you on your way, I show
you two model answers with extensive vocabulary notes. My suggestion is
start with the first one. Dont be worries that it looks too simple. it isnt. It is in
fact extremely good band score 9. The when you have that right, take a look
at the second version which has some more advanced vocabulary.
A good version
This is the final report
that the most popular leisure activities were almost the same in both
periods, but there were a number of differences in popularity between the
various activities.
It is clear that walking was the most popular activity in both 1999 and 2009,
longer among the preferred activities in 2009, but weightlifting was chosen by
10% of people.
Model answer
that the most popular leisure activities were almost the same in both
periods, but there were a number of differences in popularity
between the various activities.
It is clear that walking was the most popular activity in both 1999 and 2009,
longer among the preferred activities in 2009, butweightlifting was chosen by
10% of people.
Standard phrases
These two pie charts show: the normal phrase to describe what the
chart/graph is about
We can see that: a phrase to state a main point
It is clear that: another phrase to identify a main point
Varying vocabulary
popular/popularity/preferred: you are going to repeat the word popular.
That is not a problem, provided you also use some variations. One way to do
this is to change the form of the word from popular to popularity. The
other word I use in this report is preferred: you should note I vary this too,
using it as an adjective and a verb. Other variations include to express a
preference and favourite.
1999/2009: another word you are going to repeat relates to time. Again, you
want to make sure you have some variation here. Note these: between 1999
and 2009, in both periods, in both years, over the previous
decade, over the same period of time.
General vocabulary
a number of: a simple but exceptionally useful phrase. Avoid using phrases
like lots of in IELTS
various: a useful and more advanced variant for different
exception to a trend: Learn this phrase. You will need to talk about things
that do not follow the normal pattern.
Dealing with numbers
Numbers are very important in this task. I suggest you take a look at my lesson
on dealing with numbers.
around 30%: you will use per cent a lot in this task. You do need to include
numbers, but you should avoid using too many of them. When you do use
them, try to do what I have done here and use language too, around is good
language for about
a figure that was matched by: figure is an exceptionally useful word which
can be used with numbers or percentages. This is a harder phrase that you
could try for yourself when talking about two similar/identical numbers.
at just under 20%: more good number language. This is very much better
than 18%.
having almost doubled: more approximate number language. Remember the
language of maths: half, double etc.
all falling by at least a half to under 10%: the phrase to note here is at least
which stayed almost unchanged at around 9%: this is better variation of did
not change
TABLE
Using paragraphs to organise your answer in a task 1 table
. Task 1 is very largely an organisational task and to do it well, you need to

learn how to organise your answer in paragraphs. The main ideas are:
Find patterns in the data

Organise the patterns
Write in paragraphs
The table
This is a complex table. There are 21 different pieces of data for you think
about and organise. One thing is sure is that you cannot include all the data
you need to summarise it and select the main features
What is the big picture? How can I summarise the table in

a sentence or so? This gives you your summary statement.
How can you group information together?

This will show you your paragraphs.
The percentage of workers in agriculture, manufacturing and services in

7 European countries in 2014
The big picture/summary
Sometimes this is the hard one to see. In this case, I hope its easy. The big
picture is that the highest proportion of people works in services in every
country and the lowest in agriculture (with one exception).
This is your summary statement. Id put this right at the start of your report as
it will help the reader/examiner understand what you are writing.
How to group information together

There are two steps here:
1. Find patterns in the information
2. Organise those patterns into paragraphs

There are almost always different ways to do this as you should see from
my examples below. You just need to make sure that your groupings are
logical.
An X axis approach
A simple way to group the information is just to write about agriculture, then
manufacturing and then services. The benefit of this approach is that it is
clear. If you do this though you want to be smart about it. It is not enough just
to list all the information. You want to analyse/process those figures and find
some patterns to help you write and avoid repetition.
A top tip is to look at the variation from the

biggest to the smallest this is almost always
key data. So
agriculture = 1% (almost nothing) to 30% = huge variation
manufacturing = 15% to around 40% = significant/doubling
services = 44% to 84% = almost same range as manufacturing = doubling
Note how the organisation in this variation. It is super clear no? First I do one ,
then the other, then the other. But the note too now I link the sentences
together and compare between the different sectors. This is a case where
repeating language is a good thing!
The figures for agriculture varied significantly. In Romania and Ukraine around
30% and 10% of the respective workforces worked in agriculture, while in all
the other countries this figure was 3.5% or lower. There was less marked
variation in the manufacturing sector with the percentages ranging from a high
of 37.4% in the Czech Republic down to around 15% in the UK and Greece.
There was approximately the same degree of variation in the service sector.
The UK, Greece, France and Germany all had around three quarters of the
workforce employed in the service industry. By contrast, only 60% of Czech
workers and fewer than 45% of Romanian workers were employed in
services.
A Y axis approach
An alternative is to look at the countries on the y axis and see if you can group
them together in some way. This may be slightly harder to do but it can still
work. What I see is:
UK/Greece/France and possibly Germany all follow the same pattern very
low agriculture and very high services
Czech/Romania/Ukraine all lower in services Romania very high

agriculture and Czech manufacturing
The organisation may be less clear this time but I hope you see that I am still
grouping information. This time I am taking a country by country approach and
picking out the important numbers.
The employment statistics for these sectors in UK, France, Greece and
Germany followed a very similar pattern with the figures for agriculture varying
between 1.3 and 3.5 %, manufacturing 5.2 and 24.6%, and the services 73.8
and 83.5%.
The Czech Republic, Ukraine and Romania all differed somewhat. These
countries all had a lower percentage of people working in the service
sectorwith only 43.9 % in Romania and 58.8 and 60% in Ukraine and Czech
republic respectively. In Romania the agricultural sector accounted for around
a quarter of the workforce and this figure very slightly exceeded the
percentage of Romanians employed in manufacturing. Ukraine too had a
greater proportion of workers in agriculture, but this was less than half that
amount at around 12%. While in the Czech Republic there was nearly 40% of
the workforce worked in manufacturing and that is around 10% more than in
any other country,
The complete answers
Here are the two complete answers. There is almost always more than one
logical approach.
Version 1
This table shows the percentage of the population working in the agricultural,
manufacturing and service sectors in 7 European countries in 2014. It is
immediately clear that in each case the highest proportion of people was
employed in the service sector and that, with one exception, the lowest was
employed in agriculture.
The figures for agriculture varied significantly. In Romania and Ukraine around
30% and 10% of the respective workforces worked in agriculture, while in all
the other countries this figure was 3.5% or lower. There was less marked
variation in the manufacturing sector with the percentages ranging from a high
of 37.4% in the Czech Republic down to around 15% in the UK and Greece.
There was approximately the same degree of variation in the service sector.
The UK, Greece, France and Germany all had around three quarters of the
workforce employed in the service industry. By contrast, only 60% of Czech
workers and fewer than 45% of Romanian workers were employed in
services.
It is notable how the UK, France, Germany and Greece all had a very low
proportion of people employed in agriculture and a very high proportion in
services. In contrast, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Romania all had a
much more significant percentage of workers either in manufacturing or
agriculture.
Version 2
This table shows the percentage of the population working in the agricultural,
manufacturing and service sectors in 7 European countries in 2014. It is
immediately clear that in each case the service sector employed the highest
proportion of people and that, with one exception, agriculture employed the
lowest.
The employment statistics for these sectors in UK, France, Greece and
Germany followed a very similar pattern with the figures for agriculture varying
between 1.3 and 3.5 %, manufacturing 5.2 and 24.6%, and the services 73.8
and 83.5%.
The Czech Republic, Ukraine and Romania all differed somewhat. These
countries all had a lower percentage of people working in the service sector
with only 43.9 % in Romania and 58.8 and 60% in Ukraine and Czech
Republic respectively. In Romania the agricultural sector accounted for
around a quarter of the workforce and this figure very slightly exceeded the
percentage of Romanians employed in manufacturing. Ukraine too had a
greater proportion of workers in agriculture, but this was less than half that
amount at around 12%. While in the Czech Republic nearly 40% of the
workforce worked in manufacturing which was around 10% more than in any
other country
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table illustrates the proportion of monthly household income five

European countries spend on food and drink, housing, clothing and
entertainme
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features

and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Proportion of household income five European countries spend

on food and drink, housing, clothing and entertainment
Food and
Housing Clothing Entertainment
drink
France 25% 31% 7% 13%
Germany 22% 33% 15% 19%
UK 27% 37% 11% 11%
Turkey 36% 20% 12% 10%
Spain 31% 18% 8% 15%

IELTS Tables - Model Answer
The table shows the amount of household income that five countries in
Europe spend per month on four items. Overall, it is evident that all five
countries spend the majority of their income on food and drink and housing,
but much less on clothing and entertainment.
Housing is the largest expenditure item for France, Germany and the UK, with
all of them spending around one third of their income on this, at 30%, 33%
and 37%, respectively. In contrast, they spend around a quarter on food and
drink. However, this pattern is reversed for Turkey and Spain, who spend
around a fifth of their income on housing, but approximately one third on food
and drink.
All five countries spend much less on the remaining two items. France and
Spain spend the least, at less than 10%, while the other three countries spend
around the same amount, ranging between 13% and 15%. At 19%, Germany
spends the most on entertainment, whereas UK and Turkey spend
approximately half this amount, with France and Spain between the two items.
PROCESS
In IELTS Writing Task 1, there are 2 types of processes which include
Manufacturing Process (MP) and Natural Process (NP). Passive voice is
preferred for MP while NP is active voice. Below are some useful tips, sentence
structures and vocabulary for this IELTS Writing Task 1.
Follow the same initial steps for writing about a graph.
In the introduction you can use:

The diagram/picture/chart shows/illustrates/describes/depicts the
process of/how
For example:
Topic: The diagram below shows how the Australian Bureau of
Meteorology collects up-to-the-minute information on the weather in
order to produce reliable forecasts.==>
Essay: The gure illustrates the process used by the Australian Bureau of
Meteorology to forecast the weather.
Find a starting point and write the process as a series of steps
Useful connecting words you can use are:
Adverbs:
first/firstly/first of all, to star with, or The first step | is involved
+ Ving
| when + Clause
secondly, thirdly
then/next/after that/following that/following on from this,
subsequently/in the subsequent stage/ subsequent to that, finally..
==> Example: To begin with, the food is processed. The next step is when
it is packed.Finally, it is delivered.
Prepositions: At the beginning of/ At the

end of
Use the following conjunctions to

make more complex sentences:
when/once/as soon as/immediately/whereas.
Eg: Once obtained, raw materials and manufactured components are stored
for later assembly
The manufacturing stages involve the storage, assembly, inspection,

packing to the sales methods whereas the research stages include market &
product research, design and advertisement.
before + clause or gerund
Eg: Most consumer goods go through a series of stages before they emerge as
finished products ready for sale.
after + clause or gerund
Eg: After the production planning is complete the assembly, inspection,

testing and packaging stages are done sequentially.
where/from where/after which
Eg: Assembly first depends upon the production planning stage, where it is
decided how and in what quantities the stored materials will be processed to
create sufficient quantities of finished goods.
USEFUL SENTENCE STRUCTURES:
X=The chart/diagram.
1, X (shows/describes/illustrates) how + clause
E.g: The diagram below shows how salt is removed from sea
water to make it drinkable
2, X (shows/describe/illustrates) + noun
E.g: The charts below show the result of public survey
3, X (provides/gives) information about.
The diagram below shows the process by which bricks are

manufactured for the building industry. Summarise the
information by selecting and reporting the main features,
and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Brick manufacturing
IELTS Writing Task 1
Topic 02
Model Answer:
The process by which bricks are manufactured for the building

industry can be outlined in sevenconsecutive steps.
First the raw material, clay, which was just below the surface of soil in
certain clay-rich areas has to be dug up by a digger.
Then the lumps of clay are placed on a metal grid in order to break up
the big chunks of clay into much smaller areas, which fall
through the metal grid onto a roller, whose motion further
segregates the bits of clay. Sand and water are added to make a
homogenous mixture, which is then either formed in molds or cut into
brick-shaped pieces by means of a wire cutter.
Those fresh bricks are then kept in a drying oven for at least 24 and a
maximum of 48 hours, several dozen if not hundreds of bricks at a
time. The dried bricks are then transferred to a so-called kiln, another
type of high temperature oven. First they are kept at a moderate
temperature of 200C 1300C. This process is followed by cooling
down the finished bricks for 48 to 72 hours in a cooling chamber.
Once the bricks have cooled down and have become hard, they get
packaged and delivered to their final destination, be it a building site
or storage.
IELTS Writing Task 1 Maps
Lesson
Introduction
This guide on IELTS Writing Task 1 maps questions will cover:
Different kinds of map question

Structure
Describing specific changes
Describing general changes
Describing locations
Sample answer
You will also be able to learn some new vocabulary that will help you
deal with any Task 1 maps question.
In the IELTS writing test you might be asked to describe a map in task
Different Kinds of Map Question

There are three main types of map question:
1. Describe one map in the present day.

2. Describe two maps- one in the present and one in the future.
3. Describe two maps- one in the past and one in the present.
The first kind is very rare, as it only requires you to use the present
simple and it is impossible for any comparisons to be made.
The second kind does come up occasionally and would require you to
use present and future tenses. This kind of question is normally about
the future development of a town or city. It requires the same
vocabulary as the other two.
The third is the most common and will be the main focus of this post.
You will normally be shown two maps, as above and asked to select
and report the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
You will obviously be using both present and past tenses to describe
the maps and how the town has developed.
Also, as this is a man-made process we will use the passive.
Structure
To describe two maps I advise my students to follow a four paragraph
structure.
Paragraph 1- Paraphrase Sentence
Paraphrase question using synonyms.
Paragraph 2- Overview
Make two general statements about the map. You should describe the
maps generally and write about the most noticeable differences
between the two maps. You could ask yourself the following questions
to identify general changes. Is the map more or less residential? Is
there more or less countryside? Are there more or less trees? Were
the changes dramatic or negligible? Were there any major
improvements in infrastructure? How have the buildings and leisure
facilities changed?
Paragraph 3- Main Body 1
Three to four sentences about specific changes that have occurred.
Paragraph 4- Main Body 2
Further three to four sentences about specific changes that have

occurred.
You can group information together in paragraph 3 and 4 by time or

location, depending on the question asked.
Look at the sample answer below to see how I have used this
structure.
How to Describe Specific Changes

The ability to describe change is crucial to answering these questions.
The various buildings and features will normally be labelled for you.
What you need to work on is how to write about how they have
changed from the past up until the present day.
Tip: You may be asked to describe your hometown in the speaking

test. The vocabulary and grammar in this post should come in very
useful.
Below I will list various buildings and features and verbs we could
describe their change.
Buildings demolished, knocked-down, flattened, replaced,

renovated, built, constructed, reconstructed, developed, extended,
expanded, relocated, converted and modernized.
Examples:
The government demolished the industrial estate and developed a

sports ground.
They removed the shops and replaced it with a skyscraper.
A port was constructed at the edge of the river.
The factory in the city centre was demolished and relocated to the
north of the city.
The old warehouses were replaced with new hotels.

The factory was converted into apartments.
Trees and Forests- cleared, cut-down, chopped-down, removed,

planted.
Examples:
The forest was cut-down and replaced with a shopping centre.
The trees were cleared to make way for houses.
Roads, bridges and railways lines- constructed, built, extended,

expanded and removed.
The main road was extended and a new bridge built over the river.
Leisure facilities- opened, set up, developed.
Examples:
A skate park was set up next to the swimming pool.
A park was developed beside the forest.

How to Describe General Changes
As this is an IELTS writing task 1 question we must write an overview
and this is where we talk generally about the main changes that have
occurred between the two maps.
Below are some examples of general statements we could use to

describe change in towns and cities.
1. Over the period, the area witnessed dramatic changes.

2. From 1995 to 2005, the city centre saw spectacular
developments.
3. The village changed considerable over the time period.
4. During the 10 year period, the industrial area was totally
transformed.
5. Over the past 20 years, the residential area was totally
reconstructed.
6. Over the time period, the old docks were totally redeveloped.
7. Between 1995 and 2005, the old houses were rebuilt.
8. The central business district was completely modernised during
the time period.
Pick two or three of the most noticeable differences in the map and
write a general statement for each. This will be your overview
paragraph.
The more specific changes should be included in your main body

paragraphs.
How to Describe Locations
You will also be expected to describe where things are maps and
describe where changes have occurred.
You can use to the left and to the right, but a better way is to use
north, south, east and west. I normally advise my students to draw
the symbols on the question paper if they are not already there.
Examples:
The forest to the south of the river was cut down.
A golf course was constructed to the north of the airport.
The houses in the south-west of the town were demolished.
The green fields to the north-west of the city were redeveloped as a

park.
The airport in the centre of the city was relocated to the north-east of
the river.
The school to the south-east was knocked down and a new one
built to the east of the forest.
Finally, you will also be expected to use prepositions of place, e.g.
at/in/on/by/beside/to/off/from, to describe where things are.
Examples:
Dramatic changes took place in the city centre.
To the south of the town, there is a golf course surrounded by trees.
A new school was built next to the swimming pool.
The old road running from north to south was replaced by a new
motorway.
A marina was built on the banks of the river.

Sample Answer
Both maps display an island, before and after it was developed for
tourism.
The island is approximately 250 metres long, has palm trees dotted
around it, is surrounded by ocean and has a beach to the west. Over
the period, the island was completely transformed with the addition of
a hotel and a pier; however the eastern part of the island appears to
have been left undeveloped.
The most noticeable additions are the hotel rooms. 6 buildings,

surrounding some trees, have been built in the west of the island and
9 buildings have been constructed in the centre of the island.
Between the two accommodation areas, a reception building and a
restaurant has been developed.
A pier has also been built on the south coast of the island, allowing
yachts access to the resort. Apart from the trees, the beach remains
the only natural feature to remain relatively untouched; however it
does appear that it is now used for swimming.
(160 words)
Combination of two graphs

This post will help you answer task 1 questions that feature more than
one graph. write about two different graphs.
For example, in the question above we are asked to summarise both a

pie chart and a table. You could also be given a line graph and a bar
chart, a pie chart and a line graph or any other combination. Students
normally score lower on these types of questions, not because they
are more difficult, but because they are unfamiliar with this type of
question.
This lesson will:
discuss common problems

suggest solutions to these problems
give you a structure that can be used again and again for these
questions
analyse a sample answer
Common Problems
Writing too much- Because there is more than one data source,
students tend to write about everything and this causes two problems.
The first problem is you only have 20 minutes to answer task 1
questions and you therefore dont have time to write about everything.
The second problem is that the question asks you to summarise and
report the main features, therefore you have to pick only a few
features and report them. In other words, if you write about everything,
you have not answered the question properly.
Solution Pick 2 of the most obvious features from each graph and
limit yourself to writing about these things and these things only. Dont
worry about leaving information out; the examiner will be actually
looking for your ability to leave insignificant information out because
this shows that you are summarising and only reporting
the main features. More on how to do this in the question analysis
below.
Cant find the main features This is related to the first point. As
stated above you will be looking for just 2 features in each graph. It is
often very difficult for students to decide which features are the most
significant.
Solution The first important points should be very visual. By that I

mean, you should be able to identify them without looking at the data;
just by looking at the graphs. Also, look for extremes (highs and lows),
major trends, major changes (from beginning to end) and any obvious
comparisons that can be made between either the two graphs or
within the same graph.
Remember that the most obvious things are the main features. The
examiners are not trying to trick you and want you to tell them the very
obvious things about the graph, so dont get too clever and try to find
something less obvious.
Not grouping information into paragraphs It is very important that

you organise your ideas into paragraphs. Paragraphs should be
logical and have one main idea. Lots of students fail to do this
because they get confused between the multiple pieces of data in the
question and group data from different graphs into one paragraph.
This is very difficult to read and understand and you will lose marks if
you do this.
Solution Dont write about both graphs in one paragraph. Follow the
structure I suggest below. Group ideas for each paragraph separately
i.e. 1 paragraph for 1 graph.
Making comparisons The question states make comparisons

where relevant. The keyword here is relevant and this is what tricks
many students. Sometimes there will be a relevant comparison to
make, but in some questions there will not. Some students see two
different graphs and they assume that there must be a comparison.
They then spend too long looking for a comparison and then write
about one even if they dont find one.
Solution If you dont notice a very obvious comparison between the

two sources of data, then stop looking for one and dont write about
one. It should also be noted that there may also be comparisons to be
made between the data in the same graph.
Structure
This structure can be used for every question in which you are given
two different graphs.
Paragraph 1
Sentence 1- Paraphrase question sentences.

There will normally be two question sentences and you should
combine them into one sentence by using and or while. This will
allow you to produce a complex sentence and gain points for
grammatical range and accuracy.
Paragraph 2
Sentence 2- Overview of two of the main features from graph number
1.
Sentence 3- Overview of two of the main features from graph number

2.
Sentence 4- Overview of any comparisons if necessary (optional).
Paragraph 3
Sentence 5- Details of first main feature of graph number 1,
Sentence 6- Details of second main feature of graph number 1.
Paragraph 4
Sentence 7- Details of first main feature of graph number 2.
Sentence 8- Details of second main feature of graph number 2.

Sentence 9- Details of any comparisons (if any).
So paragraph 2 should just be an overview of the main features and

should not include any details. The details come in paragraphs 3 and
4.
Sample Answer
Question The pie chart below shows the main reasons why
agricultural land become lesson productive. The table shows how
these causes affected three regions of the world during the 1990s.
(graphs in picture above).
Answer
The pie graph displays the principal causes why farming land
deteriorates while the table illustrates how three regions of the planet
were affected by these factors in the 1990s.
As you can see all I have done is change the words in the questions
using synonyms and then connected them using the word while.
We can clearly see from the pie chart that there are three primary
causes of farmland degradation, and over-grazing is the major one.
The table shows that Europe had a far higher percentage of
unproductive land compared to the other two regions in this time
period.
For this paragraph I have picked out the main features from each
graph and wrote them in a general way. Notice that I have not
included any numbers. We will support our ideas with number in the
next two paragraphs. Also, notice that I am using the present simple
for the pie chart because there is no date and the past tense for the
table because it was in the 1990s.
The pie chart represents four causes, with over-grazing representing

the biggest proportion at just over a third. Widespread clearing of
trees and the over-use of crops constitute nearly one third and just
over a quarter respectively.
Here I have varied my language by using synonyms for the causes

and proportions and fractions for the data.
The table shows that nearly one quarter of Europes entire surface
had fallen victim to degeneration. Only a small proportion of North
Americas total land became less productive at 5% and Oceania was
marginally higher with a value of 13%.
IELTS Writing Task 1 common mistakes
IELTS writing task 1 is the question in which you are given

information in the form of a table, pie chart, line or bar
graph and sometimes a picture of a process.
You should write about 150 words for this part of the test.
You only have 60 minutes to write your answers for TWO
questions in this part of the IELTS exam. Writing Task 2 is
longer (250 word answer) and there are more points for it.
So, think of writing task 1 as the "short answer", which
must be completed quickly.
Below are some of the most common mistakes that students
make that means they get a low score for Task 1.
Avoid these errors!
1. TIMING: Do not run out of time!
You should complete IELTS Writing task 1 in 20 minutes.

Yes, just 20 minutes, which is a very short amount of time!
Lots of people taking the IELTS exam use a lot more than 20
minutes for task 1 and therefore their answer for Writing
Task 2, which has more points available and requires more
writing time, is very poor.
So, split your 20 minutes into 4 different and distinct
sections of 5 minutes each... and stick to this rule!
How to time your IELTS writing task 1 to only 20

minutes
Section 1 (0 - 5 mins): UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION
& INTRODUCTION
Read the question calmly and make sure you properly
understand the information. Highlight or underline the most
important information. Then write a one or possibly two-
sentence introduction.
Section 2 (5 - 10 mins): WRITE AN OVERVIEW
Write one short paragraph that gives a summary of the
information
Section 3 (10 - 15 mins): REPORT INFROMATION
The 3rd paragraph should report the detailed information
that adds to what you said in section 2 above
Section 4 (15 - 20 mins): REPORT MORE
INFORMATION & CHECK
The 4th and final paragraph should contain more
information from the question that supports everything you
have already written. Then you should read through what
you wrote to check for obvious mistakes like spelling or
grammar that you can quickly correct.
2. DO NOT WRITE IN THE FIRST PERSON
IELTS Writing Task 1 does NOT need/want/require your

personal opinion. You should only report or state details of
information that are shown in the graph, chart and/or tables
WITHOUT adding your own comments!
So, do NOT write sentences that start like the following:
I think that...
I believe that...
I would suggest...
It's obvious that...
In my opinion...
3. INTRODUCTION: Do not write out the question again
As with all other exams, when you get asked a question in a

writing task, you should repeat the question in your
opening... BUT this does NOT mean that you should COPY
the question.
You should paraphrase the question... in other words, repeat
the question, but using different words that mean the same
thing.
4. TOO MUCH INFORMATION: Do not report everything you see!
It is not necessary to include every single piece of

information that you can see in your charts, graphs and
tables.
A top IELTS student will be able to choose and select the
best information that is presented in writing task 1.
As a general rule, in your written answer, include about 5 or
6 numbers or pieces of information. So, that's about 3 pieces
of information for both sections 3 and 4 mentioned above.
5. TIME!!! Do not take more than 20 minutes
Yes, I know that we talked about this first, but this is the
number 1 mistake that students make in the IELTS writing
exam!
You need lots of time for Writing Task 2! Do not waste that
time on task 1!!!
You must practise writing answers for Task 1 in 20 minutes.
This is super important.
Do not be one of the many students who say after they come
out of the exam: "I didn't have enough time for the writing"
A common IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

mistake
Avoid this IELTS Writing Task 1 mistake and improve your band score
In IELTS Academic Writing task 1 you have to write a summary of the information
in a graph, chart, table or diagram (or more than one of these When the
information relates to countries such as America or Britain, which it often does, a
common mistake is to leave out the word the when reporting information about
the USA or the UK.
The graph provides information about radio and television audiences in UK in

1992.
Why is it a mistake to leave out the article the?

You need to write (or say) the USA and the UK because these countries contain
the word states and kingdom. When a country has a noun such as states,
kingdom or republic in its name, the should be used before it.
The word the should also be used for countries that involve a plural, e.g. the
Philippines.
Here are some examples of countries that should have the before them:
the UK
the USA
the Peoples Republic of China
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
the Philippines
the Netherlands
(You shouldnt use the before these countries if use their other names: Britain,
America, China, Saudi Arabia or Holand).
Why you may have made this mistake?

The word the is often left out from before the country in the title (or labels) of
IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 graphs, charts or tables , and you may have
copied the country from there.
Notice how the is missing from the following title in this graph:
Radio and television audiences in UK, October December 1992

Task1 Tips Academic Ielts

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Strategies for improving your

Grammar and vocabulary

Pie charts generally show figures in percentages and your language

STEPS 1 & 2 IDENTIFY TYPES OF CHARTS, LOOK FOR TRENDS

Given :- rendered, yielded, given, provided

Introductory lines for paragraph 1st

Vocabulary to show changes

Words describe the speed of change

Adverbs and intensifiers

Tops and bottoms

No movement :- (verbs with Adjectives,

Represent frequent changes in graphs

The graph can be of following types

1. There + be + adj. + noun + in + noun phrase

There was a gradual (adjective) rise in the price of oil.

2. Noun phrase + verb + adverb

The price of oil rose gradually.

The price of (phrase) oil(noun) rose(verb) gradually

The price of oil has risen(verb) dramatically (adverb).

Describing Increases and Decreases

1. Noun phrase + verb + adverb

The price of property fell sharply

2. There + be + noun + in + noun phrase

1. More/few/less + noun + than

Overall, more people preferred public transport than taxis.

2. of one syllable -er + than

A higher number for people preferred public transport than taxis.

3. More/less + adj. of more than one syllable + than

4. of one syllable -est.

The highest % of commuters preferred taxis.

5. The most/least + adj. of more than one syllable.

The least popular mode of transport was buses.

Below are a range of tenses that could be used in task 1. Remember,

We use this tense generally to talk about an action that happened at

2. Present Perfect Continuous

We use this tense to state that something will be finished by a

We often use it with by or in.

The price of oil will have reached $300 a barrel by 2020.

Vocabulary for future related graphs

Going by specultation - make the sentence with [will be +3rd form]

As per the projection will+1st form of verb

The odds are that [will +1st form of verb]

May, fluctuate from [ in 2019 to 2030 ]

1.The sale is likely to rise considerably to 70%in 2030 from 40%in

2.Going by speculation , the sale will rise considerably to 70%in 2030

1.Production might/could well escalated erratically from 32% in 2020 to

[Active]:- It is in offing that the sale will display a considerable rise of

[Passive]:- considerable rise of 6% is likely to be displayed by the sale.

Approximations, Percentages and Fractions

Remember that you should vary your language as much as possible in

It is also fine to use approximations, for example, 49% can be

Below are a range of expressions that can be used to express

73%- nearly three quarters

51%- just over a half

49%- just under a half

32%- nearly a third

3%- a tiny fraction

50%- exactly a half

49%- around a half

24%- almost a quarter

77%- approximately three quarters

70%- a large proportion

71%- a significant majority