ielts essay writing chart

IELTS Mentor "IELTS Preparation & Sample Answer"

• Skip to content
• Jump to main navigation and login

Nav view search

• IELTS Sample

20 Recent IELTS Graph samples with answers

The chart below shows how much money is spent in the budget on different sectors by the uae government in 2000..

The charts below show the growth in the population in some of the world’s largest cities as well as the population distribution in urban and rural areas.

The average prices per kilometre of clothing imported into the European Union from six different countries in 1993 and 2003 are shown in the bar chart below.

The bar charts below show the number of hours each teacher spent teaching in different schools in four different countries in 2001.

The line graphs below show the production and demand for steel in million tonnes and the number of workers employed in the steel industry in the UK in 2010.

The bar charts and line graph below show the results of a survey conducted over a three-year period to discover what people who live in London think of the city.

The pie charts below show the online sales for retail sectors in New Zealand in 2003 and 2013.

The number of tourists visiting Malaysia and Dubai from 1995 to 2003 is presented below.

The bar chart below shows the estimated sales of jeans for two companies next year in Turkey. The pie chart shows the projected market share of the two companies in jeans at the end of next year.

The graph below shows a survey result of 4000 participants who expressed what important aspects they have learned from the internship they have completed.

The graph below shows the top priorities by business companies in the USA in 2016.

The graphs below show the average monthly expenditure on children’s sports and participation in different sports in the UK from 2008 to 2014.

The pie charts below show the online shopping sales for retail sectors in Australia in 2010 and 2015.

The bar chart below shows Scotland’s exports to the rest of the UK and the rest of the world for the year 2014.

The chart below shows the changes in sales of four different types of books from 2002 to 2012.

The diagram shows the procedure for university entry for high school graduates.

The chart below shows Morocco’s income from different economic sectors in 2003 as well as its income from fishing from 1982 to 2003.

The bar chart below shows the proportions of English men and women of different ages who were living alone in 2011. The pie chart compares the numbers of bedrooms in these one-person households.

The diagram below shows the life cycle of a salmon, from egg to adult fish.

The table below shows the worldwide market share of the notebook computer market for manufacturers in the years 2006, 2007 and 2014.

• Academic Writing Task 1

IELTS Materials

• IELTS Bar Graph
• IELTS Line Graph
• IELTS Table Chart
• IELTS Flow Chart
• IELTS Pie Chart
• IELTS Letter Writing
• IELTS Essay
• Academic Reading

Useful Links

• IELTS Secrets
• Band Score Calculator
• Exam Specific Tips
• Useful Websites
• IELTS Preparation Tips
• Academic Reading Tips
• Academic Writing Tips
• GT Writing Tips
• Listening Tips
• Speaking Tips
• IELTS Grammar Review
• IELTS Vocabulary
• IELTS Cue Cards
• IELTS Life Skills
• Letter Types

• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Copyright Notice
• HTML Sitemap

Latest IELTS Writing Task 1 2024 (Graphs, Charts, Maps, Processes)

by Dave | Sample Answers | 147 Comments

These are the most recent/latest IELTS Writing Task 1 Task topics and questions starting in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and continuing into 2024.

You can find all the most recent IELTS writing task 2s here and the general training questions here .

I also have recorded all the IELTS speaking questions here .

Learn here about how to write an IELTS general overview for task 1.

If you are able, please consider supporting my efforts (and receiving exclusive IELTS Ebooks!) by signing up for my Patreon here .

Enjoy and comment any questions/writing that you have!

Read my sample for the process below here.

Read my sample for the pie chart below here.

Read my sample answer for the map below here.

Read my sample answer for the Cambridge 19 line chart below here.

Read my sample for the line chart below here.

Read my sample answer for the chart below here.

Read my sample for the table below here.

Reported on IELTS November 27th

Read my sample for the bar chart below here.

Reported on IELTS November 5th

Read about the line chart below here.

Read about the pie charts below here.

Read about the chart below here.

Read about the bar chat below here.

Read about the map below here.

Read about map below here.

Read my essay for the bar chart below here.

Read my essay for the charts below here.

Read my essay for the line chart below here.

Read my essay for the table below here.

Read my essay for pie charts below here.

Read my essay for the process below here.

Read my essay for the map below here.

Read my essay here.

Read my essay or the process below here.

Read my sample answer for the bar chart below here.

Read my essay about this line chart here.

Read about this map here.

Read my essay for the bar chart and pie chart below here.

Read my essay for the combined pie chart and table below here.

Read my sample for the pie charts below here.

Read my sample for the chart below here.

Read my answer for the chart below here.

Read my answer here .

Read my sample answer for the table below here.

Read my sample answer for this process here.

Read my sample answer for this chart here.

Read my sample answer for the process below here.

Read my sample answer here.

Read my sample for this bar chart here.

Read my sample answer for this line chart here.

Read my sample answer for the floor plan below:

Read my sample answer for the new bar chart below here.

Read my sample answer for this table here.

Read my sample answer for this mine map below:

My Ebook for this (really difficult!) chart is only available on Patreon.

Read my sample answer for this question here.

Check with my sample answer here.

Read my sample answer for this (unusual) task 1 here.

Read my sample answer for this topic here.

The bar graph shows the total manufacturing production in percentages Asia, Europe, and the rest of the world.

Read my sample answer for the floorplan below here.

I want to make some simple suggestions for how you can use these recent graphs to practice.

To be honest, students get too obsessed with the most recent questions.

You can practice with a question from years ago and a question from yesterday – it makes absolutely no difference.

What makes an actual difference is how you study.

Here is what I recommend:

• Practice writing about a graph in 20 minutes, in test conditions.
• This is your ability. Now, check it by underlining the vocabulary, grammar, data. Are there many grammar mistakes? Do you use the same words over and over? Do you include all the data?
• Now that you know your weaknesses, you can also sign up to have them marked by me here .
• Write about another one focusing on your mistakes. Don’t worry about timing. Take as long as you need to make it perfect.
• Repeat this process over and over until your start to notice your writing improving.

Hope that works for everyone!

Recommended For You

Recent IELTS Writing Topics and Questions 2024

by Dave | Sample Answers | 342 Comments

Read here all the newest IELTS questions and topics from 2024 and previous years with sample answers/essays. Be sure to check out my ...

These are the most recent/latest IELTS Writing Task 1 Task topics and questions starting in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and continuing into 2024. ...

Find my Newest IELTS Post Here – Updated Daily!

by Dave | IELTS FAQ | 18 Comments

Recent IELTS Speaking Topics and Questions 2024

by Dave | Model Answers | 74 Comments

These are IELTS speaking topics and questions in 2024 - if you want the current reported ones on IELTS, you can find them here. ...

New IELTS General Training Writing Topics and Questions 2024

by Dave | General Training | 93 Comments

Enjoy all the newest IELTS questions and topics from 2024 for the general training exam - as well as ones from past years that may come ...

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

147 Comments

The bar graphs compare the rate of girls and boys between 5-14 years old who were engaged in cultural activites and sports in Australia in the year 2003. Overall, dancing was by far the most practiced activity among girls and the least for boys. Although practicing a sport was quite popular for both gender, it was noticeable higher for male children.

To begin, dancing was the most coveted spare activity for girls, a stunning 25% of them practicing it that year, whilst roughly 3% of boys did it. Playing a musical instrument, on the other hand, attracted a 15% and 10% of boys and girls, respectively, becoming the most popular for male children and adolescents. Drama and singing shared a similar rate, around 5% of all children were enganged in such programs, standing up as the least practiced, with the exception of dancing among boys.

With respect to sports, as expected, the proportion was by far higher for boys than for girls, 70% and 50%, respectively. In comparison with cultural activities, practicing sports definitively was the most predominat type of recreational activity among all children.

Great work! Your overview is clear enough for band 7+! Some small corrections ‘both genders, most common spare time, of boys participated, attrached 15%, being the most, being the least practiced, (take out the as expected bc it is too close to opinion)’

Merci beaucoup! I did not expect an answer, I just was practicing my ability to write a decent report in less than 20mnts. Thanks so much for your feedback, it is of great help. I’m using your site for self-preparation. Your explanations are clear, straightforward and appropriate. Hopefully, with your help (website, videos, blogs), I will hit my desired score. Great day! God bless you!

You’re welcome! What is your desired score? I can give you some more detailed feedback to help you get there…

I’m chasing a 7 in each skill.

You are close! Be careful with prepositions, make sure that your language isn’t too informal and small mistakes with grammar (infinitives, irregular past simple) might bring down your grammar score.

The given maps depict the changes that had taken place on a museum over a 60-year period, starting in 1957 to 2007. Overall, the museum grew in size and the majority of trees were removed in favor of that.

In 1957, there were a bunch of pine trees along the road and also on the museum’s surroundings. The museum facilities were made up just by a storeroom, a local history room and a national exhibition on the top center. Likewise, a straightforward path from the road leaded to the entrance hall.

By 2007, the museum witnessed several striking changes. Firstly, to built up a spacious car park, the path was bricked down and all the trees on the bottom (left-right) were cut down. Secondly, the building itself was enlarged on the north, and a completely new room was erected on the bottom left corner side, where the shop and main entrance were attached. With the exception of local history room , which was relocated on the center, the storeroom and national exhibition were eliminated. These changes allowed the introduction of a reception and cafe on the southern area, and a special exhibition and education center rooms on the north. Finally, the garden was the only element that remained untouched.

Good work again! Some corrections: The given maps depict the changes that took place in a museum over a 60-year period, starting in 1957 and ending in 2007. Overall, the museum grew in size allwoing for more customer focused shops and the majority of trees were removed.

In 1957, there was a grouping of pine trees along the road and also on the museum’s perimeter . The museum facilities were made up of just a storeroom, a local history room and a national exhibition on the top center. Likewise, a straightforward path from the road led to the entrance hall.

By 2007, the museum witnessed several striking changes. Firstly, to erect a spacious car park, the path was removed and all the trees on the bottom (left-right) were cut down. Secondly, the building itself was enlarged on the northern side , and a completely new room was erected in the bottom left corner, where the shop and main entrance are not located . Although the local history room was relocated to the center, the storeroom and national exhibition were eliminated. These changes allowed for the introduction of a reception and cafe on the southern area, and a special exhibition and education center rooms in the north. Finally, the garden was the only element that remained untouched.

Merci beaucoup monsieur! You’re right, after sending my draft I realized I had made quite a few grammar mistakes. To be honest, I always fight against preposition, specially those indicating “place”. I cannot identify when I need to use: IN, ON, TO when it comes to giving directions. As you can see: I used “on the north” instead “in the north” , or use the adjective “northern” without a noun. Please, suggest us a good grammar book to follow . Salut!

Sometimes prepositions are more like vocabulary than grammar. We always say ‘in’ not ‘on’ the north – just something to memorise! You can try this website: https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/prepositions/rules-for-prepositions.html

I also suggest keeping a list from my sample answers of the correct prepositions and using the list when you practice until you feel you have memorised them and no longer need the list. Good luck!

The given bar graph illustrates the levels of water in reservoirs in five Australia’s cities in 2009 and 2010. The data is measured in percentages.

Overall, the levels of water witnessed a significant decrease in city A, B and D, whilst city C and F showed a slight rise throughout the period.

In 2009, cities B, C, D and E shared a similar water levels around 70%. By contrast, city A stood out as that with the lowest levels at 50% and city F showed the highest ones at just above 80%.

With the exception of city E, which remained the same at 80%, all cities’ water reservoirs experienced changed by 2010. City C and F levels went up to just above 82% and approximately 99%, respectively. On the other hand, city D levels went down significantly from almost 70% to approximately 52%. The same occurred to city A and B, whose water rates dropped nearly 20%

Nice job again! The most important part is to be sure that you give some kind of overall ranking in terms of your overview as well.

Here are some small edits: “The given bar graph illustrates the levels of water in reservoirs in five of Australia’s cities in 2009 and 2010 in percentages . Overall, water levels witnessed a significant decrease in city A, B and D, whilst city C and F showed a slight rise throughout the period. City F had the highest water levels throughout while City A was consistently the lowest.

In 2009, cities B, C, D and E shared similar water levels at around 70%. By contrast, city A stood out as that with the lowest levels at 50% and city F showed the highest ones at just above 80%.

With the exception of city E, which remained the same at 80%, all cities’ water reservoirs experienced changes by 2010. City C and F levels went up to just above 82% and approximately 99%, respectively. On the other hand, city D levels went down significantly from almost 70% to approximately 52%. The same occurred to city A and B, whose water rates dropped nearly 20% a piece.

Thanks so much for your helpful feedback. I will soon sit the test, hopefully I will hit a high score.

I really hope you do well on it! Be sure to write me a message to let me know how it turned out!

The rendered bar graph illustrates the information about the organisation A-E those spent billions of euros on machinery , building,staff training and research section. One glance is enough to say that maximum euros was spent on staff training while the minimum euros was spent on research activity. It is evident from the graph that organization A was spent 1 billion euros on machinery . This value increased substantially at 16 billion euros by organization c then organization D and E invest less euros on machinery and it was reached at approximately 0.8 billion euros. Moreover ,on building had been spent 1.3 billion euros by organization A and there was non-noticeable decrease on building almost 1.4 billion erros by organization B . After that organization C,D and E had spent equal amount that is 1 billion euros on building area. Moving further, staff training was invested the highest amount that is 1.9 billion euros by organization B. There after , this value was declined by organization C ,D and E. However, organization B had invested nearly 1.6 billion euros on research section whereas , organization D and E was spent least amount on research area that is 0.7 billion euros.

Great work Navneet!

Some corrections:

The rendered bar graph illustrates information about organisations’ A-E spending in euros on machinery , building,staff training and research . One glance is enough to say that maximum euros was spent on staff training while the minimum euros was spent on research activity. (That phrase is too informal – better to say ‘Overall’, your overview must also touch on all areas and have a little more detail to get at least band 6 for task achievement.)

It is evident from the graph that organization A was spent 1 billion euros on machinery . This value increased substantially at 16 billion euros by organization c then organization D and E invest less euros on machinery and it was reached at approximately 0.8 billion euros. Moreover ,on building had been spent 1.3 billion euros by organization A and there was non-noticeable decrease on building almost 1.4 billion erros by organization B . After that organization C,D and E had spent equal amount that is 1 billion euros on building area. (This graph does not show increase or decrease over time. It just shows 1 time period so try to compare the data and forget about it going up or down.)

Moving further, staff training was invested the highest amount that is 1.9 billion euros by organization B. There after , this value was declined by organization C ,D and E. However, organization B had invested nearly 1.6 billion euros on research section whereas , organization D and E was spent least amount on research area that is 0.7 billion euros. (Good working describing most of the data but remember to compare for this type of graph, not show increase/decrease.)

Read more about graphs with no change over time here: https://howtodoielts.com/ielts-writing-task-1-analyse-tables-not-over-time/

Sir, can u check my sentence formation in this task because if i realize my mistakes then i will continue this….

The rendered bar garaph illustrates the information about the percentage of women age in Australia since they gave birth to their first child in 1966,1985and 2006. Overall,the maximum percentage of women was observed in younger age while ,the minimum percentage was calculated at older age in the whole period. It is vivid from the graph that 19 and under aged women gaved the birth of 33%of chlid in 1956 wheras, this percentage decreased to 25% and 18% in 1986 and 2006 respectively.

Overall,the maximum percentage of women observed were younger age while the minimum percentage was calculated at older ages over the whole period. It can be seen in the graph that… gave birth to…

Good start!

The given diagram illustrates the process, and its different steps, to produce ethanol fuel from raw corn. Overall, there are eight stages involved in the production of this renewable fuel, starting with corn storing and ending with its transportation to the public market.

First, the process initiate with having enough raw material (corn) for the ethanol production purpose. This corn is stored for a while, then it is milled profusely. Without delay, the milled corn is immediately mixed with water, to be then cooked it for exactly four hours. Shortly after, it is kept sealed in containers for up to 48 hours, allowing it ferments sufficiently.

Once the fermetation have finished, the liquid and the solid by-product are neatly separated, and the former undergone a purified procedure for five long hours. The ending product is purified ethanol, which is stored for an undefined time. Finally, the ethanol fuel is ready to be transported to its different destinations.

Good work again! Some correctins: ‘The given diagram illustrates the process, and its different steps, to produce ethanol fuel from raw corn. Overall, there are eight stages involved in the production of this renewable fuel (don’t need to include the number of steps in your overview), starting with corn storage and ending with its transportation to the public market.

First, the process initiates with having enough raw material (corn) for the ethanol production. This corn is stored for a while then it is milled before being mixed with water, to be then cooked it for exactly four hours. Shortly after, it is kept sealed in containers for up to 48 hours, allowing it ferments sufficiently.

Once the fermetation has finished, the liquid and the solid by-product are neatly separated and the former undergoes a purified procedure for five long hours. The ending product is purified ethanol, which is stored for an undefined amount of time. Finally, the ethanol fuel is ready to be transported to its different destinations.

A couple things: stay away from opinion/speculation like profusely, immediately, etc.

For your overview, try to group and define the stages – don’t need to say the number of stages.

The graph illustrates the percentage of women in different age groups in years 1966, 1986 and 2006. The first age group of 19 and under was the highest in year 1966 at 35% and the lowest in year 2006 at 15%. In year 1966, the percentage of women who were 20-24 years old was 60%, which is more than both in 1986 and 2006. The age group of 25-30 years was 50% in 1986 and it was higher than both 1966 and 2006. The percentage of women in the age of 30-34 years has been increasing steadily since 1966. It was 15% in 1966, 20% in 1986 and 45% in 2006. Its rise is opposite to 20-24 age group, which declined between 1966 and 2006. Another age group that has been on the rise is the 34-39 years, as it was 5% in 1966, 15% in 1986 and 30% in 2006. Both age groups of age 30-34 and 34-39 have grown in percentage between 1966 and 2006. The last group of women aged 40 and above has remained the lowest among all the age groups.

Well done! Some corrections:

Your grammar is very accurage but it is a little mechanical because you don’t compare and most importantly there is no general overview so your maximum score is band 5 for task achievement even though all the data is accurate!

https://howtodoielts.com/ielts-writing-task1-band-7-overview/

Hi Dave, thank you so much for your feedback man!! I gave the test and got a 7 on written, and 8 overall. thank you so much for you help 🙂 have a great year ahead!! lovepreet

Thanks for letting my know – congrats on your score!

The given bar graphs depict the proportion of 5-14 males and females’ age group joined the cultural activities and sport in Australia in the year 2003. Overall, it is clear that most boys were more athletic and played a musical instrument, while girls were fond of dancing than boys. Boys were more attracted to a sporting event, at 70%, while the figure for girls who participate was just above 50%. However, when it comes to cultural activities, female dancers recorded the highest percentage in the graph at 25%, compared to a marginal number of males at just 3%. Almost identical figures for both genders can be seen in singing and drama with only 5% of them participated in these categories. Playing a musical instrument is the category that the same genders had the interest to do. Most participants came from a group of boys at 15%, compared to just 10% for girls.

Thanks for commenting!

Here are some corrections:

The given bar graphs depict the proportion of 5-14 males and females’ age group joining cultural activities and sport in Australia in the year 2003. Overall, it is clear that most boys were more athletic and played a musical instrument, while girls were fond of dancing than boys. Boys were more attracted to a sporting events, at 70%, while the figure for girls who participated was just above 50%. However, when it comes to cultural activities, female dancers recorded the highest percentage in the graph at 25%, compared to a marginal number of males at just 3%. Almost identical figures for both genders can be seen in singing and drama with only 5% of them participated in these categories. Playing a musical instrument is a category that interested both genders. Most participants came from a group of boys at 15%, compared to just 10% for girls.

Good work! Did you mention all areas on the graphs in your overview?

Yes, I mentioned it all. Sorry, this is my first time practicing a timed task. What would be my possible score if you will base in my answer? Thanks!

Your score is in the band 6.5/7 range in terms of language ability. What score are you going for on the exam?

My target is above 6.5 in writing. Hoping that I can achieve that band score. Thank you!

Keep up the hard work!

The diagram reveals the way of producing ethanol fuel from corn. Overall, it is clear that there are eight stages in the process, beginning with the corn harvest, fermentation and transition of corn into a liquid, to the transportation of the product made.

In the first stage of making purified ethanol is storing the corn before it undergoes milling. The milled corn is then added by water and cooked for 4 hours. After that stage, corn will be fermented for 48 hours. Separation of solid to liquid is the next step. While the solid by-product is not needed after the transition process, the melted corn is then kept.

In the subsequent stage, the melted corn product goes through a purification process. This process takes 5 hours to be able to produce purified ethanol. Storing of the made ethanol fuel product is the next step. Finally, ethanol fuel is transported to its destination.

Good overview Jessica!

Really good accuracy with your passive verbs – you are well within your target band scores range!

Thank you so much! Im a bit confused if what kind of tense should I use in diagram task?

For a diagram it should be mainly in the present and present passive, maybe some present perfect!

The bar graph give information on percentage of water level in reservoirs in six different Australian cities in October 2019 and 2010. Overall, the greatest water level always was in city B and city F and increased , moderate for for city B and city D where decreased and for city E, where remainded the same, while the lowest for city A where decreased over the year. Water level in city F and city C in 2009 was at 90% and 80% respectively and grew for both by 10% in 2010. On the second position in case of resevoired water in 2009 was city B and city D with the figure of 80% which diminished to 65% and 50% respectively in 2010. Although water level of city E was similar in 2009 to those of in city B and city D, it remained on the same level in 2010. The modest water level was in city A. For this city we can spot a drop from 60% in 2009 to 45% in 2010.

Well written, Iza!

Be careful with helping verbs. You don’t need to say ‘was increased’ just ‘increased’

Good work describing the full trend for your overview!

You need clearer paragraphs though – take a look here to see some examples: https://howtodoielts.com/category/writing-task-1/academic/

Keep working hard!

Hii Dave.. I really want your possible score on this writing task 1..

Hi Saini/Iza, this essay is in the band 5 range at the moment.

But do you think it deserves 7 band?

The given bar graph illustrates that in the year 2003,the proportion of Australian boys and girls aged 5-14 participates in cultural as well as sports activity.. Overview the dancing activity was most favorable cultural activity shown by girls in comparison to boys.. The boys preferred more sports, although it was quite popular in both the gender…. To begin with, it can be clearly seen that, the percentage showed big difference in dancing activity, which was 25% girls participate in it, whereas there was less than 5% boys in same activity.. By contrast, the proportion of boys were 70% in sport which was highest rates… Probing further, the drama as well as singing activity received the similar percentage 5% by both the gender in the year 2003, respectively.. Moreover, in the play musical instrument ,one in ten girls participated which was 5% inclined by boys in the Australian… Thanks.. Dave I really want your response on this

Good work Saini!

Try copying some expressions from my sample answers more closely such as ‘Overall,’ instead of ‘overview.’

Don’t use … – that is too informal. Just use a period.

You are experimenting with a lot of new grammar and vocabulary which is good but you need to focus more on accuracy as it is quite hard to understand at times. Keep it up!

Thank you for your response.. What score I can get according to you on this task 1

This answer is i nthe band 5 range at the moment.

The table shows the details of five different kinds of vehicles registered in Australia in the years 2010, 2012 and 2014. Overall, it is clear that all types of vehicles increased in percentile over the given period in which the percentage for motorcycles had jumped most. It could be noticed also that passenger vehicles got the highest numbers while light trucks were the lowest.

A glance at the graph reveals passenger vehicles started from 11,800,000 units in 2010, rose almost a million over 2 years, then climbed to 13,000,000 in 2014, accounting for 10.2% over the period. Similarly, commercial vehicles uplifted to 17.4% from 2010 to 2014. In the first year, 2,300,000 were recorded, increased to 2,600,000 in 2012, before reaching 2,700,000 in 2014.

A most striking positive change can be seen in the proportion of motorcycles which is 30.8%. It started from 540,000 registered motorcycles in 2010 then rose dramatically to 680,000 and 709,000 in 2012 and 2014 respectively. Meanwhile, an almost identical positive trend can be seen in the numbers of heavy and light trucks. A marginal upward movement from 384,000 to 416,000 at 8.3% over 4 years for heavy trucks can be considered while a significant escalation at 23.5% is remarkable in the number of light trucks.

given period and the, motorcycles jumped the most, it can also be seen that, had the, commercial vehices grew to, increating to 2,600,000, can be observed while

Keep it up!

The bar chart provides data on the water levels of reservoirs in six Australian cities from 2009 to 2010. Overall, city F recorded the overall highest levels, closely followed by city C and E, while the percentages of city A were the lowest in both Octobers. some cities, such as F and C recorded higher water levels in 2010 compared to 2009, whereas the remaining cities showed a reversed pattern except city E with both numbers leveling up.

Looking in more details, city F stood at 90 per cent in Oct, 2009 and climbed to nearly 100% in 2010, which was the highest among all. Likewise, city C experienced a considerable growth from just over 80 per cent to approximately 91% in the next year. In contrast, city B and D showed a decline in water levels, from identically 80% to around 62% and 50% respectively. Figures of city A also dropped considerably from 60% to about 45% by 2010. The water level of city E was just above four fifths in 2009, and this number remained unchanged in the following year. (180 words)

Really nice writing again, Jing!

The chart presents data on the percentages of Australian children aged between 5 to 14 who join cultural activities and sports in 2003. Overall, sport was way more popular than cultural activities for both genders, while boys were more active than girls. A Lot less children participated cultural activities though the number of girls who danced stood out. Except for those who play musical instrument, the remaining culture activities only attracted a minimal amount of children. Looking in more details, over half of female students joined sports, however the percentage of active boys was even higher at as much as 70%. Likewise, there were more boys who played musical instrument than girls, at 25% and 10% respectively. In contrast, Dancing was substantially more popular within girls, attracting a quarter of females compared to merely approximately 3% of males. Besides, both boys and girls showed least interest in drama and singing with only 5% in turn of either gender group did those activities. (162 words)

Good work Jing!

Be careful with your tenses, prepositions and fixed expresssions: Looking in more detail…

The line chart compares the priced of fresh fruits and vegetable, sugar and sweets as well as carbonated drink from 1979 to 2009. Overall, even though all categories started off at broadly identical prices, the growth in fresh fruits and vegetables overweighed consumer-price index by a massive margin, while the rest displayed a much slower upward trend. Looking in more details, sugar and sweets closely following consumer-price index, showed a slow yet steady growth throughout the thirty-year period. The price of soft drinks, however, remained stable after a surge in 1984 at around 115 until 1999, when the price rose again slowly. In contrast, there was a substantial growth in the price of fresh fruits and vegetables over the given period, which, despite a dip to about 90 in 1984 and some fluctuations, rose significantly from just above 50 in 1979 to nearly 350 by 2009. In fact, the price only levelled out temporarily between 1990 and 1992 and again from 2000 to 2001. (164 words)

drinks, outweiged, followed, showing, inclue more data in the second paragraph!, levelled off

The line graph provides information on the number of middle-aged citizens in three countries over a 50-year period between 1950 to 2000. Looking from an overall perspective, this particular age group had grown at a broadly comparable pace in China and India, with Chinese midyear crowd continuously outnumbering that of the India’s, while the midyear population in USA also increased, but by a comparatively small margin over the years. Looking in more details, Chinese mid-aged population started off the highest among three countries at just below 600 million in 1950, which outnumbered that of India by about 200 million, and USA by 400 million. Despite a short period of stability at approximately 620 million from 1960 to 1965, the number of China surged as rapidly as India’s. By the end of the period, the figures of China and India had reached 1200 million and 1000 million respectively. The increase of the US mid-agers, on the other hand, was relatively gentle. By 2000, the number of USA had risen slightly to only about 280 million, which was almost lower than the leading country’s by 1000 million. (185 words)

You tend to overuse past perfect when you could just use past simple: grew

You use it correctly in your last sentence though!

Smaller margin, among the, numbers for China, US middle-aged residents

dear admin i would like to express my great appreciation for your hard work in collecting and answering all these samples, good job! i found your sample answers highly useful as well as being professional. please proceed with your work in assembling the latest task 1 questions.

Thanks so much, Homa – I really appreciate that!

I wish I could publish the task 1 essays as regularly but it is much harder for students to remember the graphs from the exam.

But I will continue to publish any task 1s that I get reports on!

Thank you very much for your efforts and your time to help all the students who are preparing themselves for the IELTS. I do really appreciate that. I’ve just started preparing myself for the IELTS exam and this is my first writing attempt.

The graphs illustrate the rate of boys and girls who participated in organized sports and cultural activities aged 5-14 in 2003 in Australia.

Overall, girls participation showed an upward trend in the cultural activities,while boys showed a dwonward in many activities. Both boys and girls participation experienced some fluctuations in both activities, although boys had initially a lower participation percentage, but they outraced girls in the end.

Boys rate was less than 5 percent in drama activities which was so close to girls rate, then it kept decreasing to almost 3 percent in Dancing activities which is the lowest rate of all activities. the rate showed a gradual increase in singing activities by approximately 2 percent, and it showed a significant raise to 15 percent in playing musical instrument. Eventually boys outraced girls in sports activities hitting a high-point of 70 percent, which is the highest perentage of all the period.

percentage of girls who participated in drama was as low as the percentage of girls who participated in singing activities, then the rate showed a significant increase of 25 percent in dancing activities, it decreased by 15 percent in play musical instrument. and it kept increasing to almost 52 percent in sports activities which is the highest percentage of all acitivities.

Thanks for saying that Madjid!

Careful of some informal words like outraced and try to be a little more accurate: significant rise, musical instruments, which was, etc.

Some simple mistakes but a great first effort!

Your overview is good too – keep working hard!

The bar graph compares the proportion of people living in households in the UK between 1981 and 2001. Overall, it is clear that households consisting of more people deteriorated while homes with fewer persons increased. The percentages for the two middle groups oppositely changed by the same margin.

A glance at the graph reveals that proportions for 1 and 2 people households both escalated by 3%, at 26% and 36% in 2001 respectively. These figures were the highest over the given period. An identical trend can be seen in the percentage of 4 people houses, it jumped from 12% to 15%.

On the other hand, the proportion of houses with 6 or more people plummeted from 6% to 2%, and 5-people homes percentage just dropped a quarter, from 8% to 6%. These two figures with the lowest percentages in 1981 remained at their place in 2001. Similarly, the figure for 3 people houses also fell by 3% over 20 years.

Well written Jessica!

‘Deteriorated’ has a negative connotation so I wouldn’t use that word.

Really nice linking and comparison in your writing!

The diagram illustrates the filtration process of drinking water in a single town in Australia. Overall, there are four main stages as is presented above, beginning with the rainwater collection, water filtration and treatment, to the distribution of drinking water to households. The entire process is controlled by the plumbing system.

In the first stage, rainwater is collected through roof gutters and downspouts of townhouses. The gathered water undergoes filtration through the pipe before being deposited in the storage tank.

In the subsequent stage, water from the storage tank then transferred by a pipe to the water treatment tank. At this stage, the removal of contaminants is being done by placing chemicals in the water treatment tank. After the purification process, the potable water is then finally distributed to townhouses. And, the treated water is regulated by faucets in every household and is now safe to drink.

Well written!

Really nice overview – it should be band 7+ for task achievement.

Careful with your singular/plural – through the pipes.

And your helping verbs: is then transferred…

The maps illustrate the development of a museum between 1957 and 2007. Looking from the overall perspective, it is clear that significant changes had been made over the period. The most noticeable improvements were the size of the building which had been expanded and a car park which was created.

In 1957, there was a pathway from the main road to the museum. The entire building of the museum had only four parts, beginning with the entrance hall, local history room, museum store-room, and the national history exhibition. The garden was located in the northwest. Also, several trees were planted along the road and surrounding the building.

Over 50 years, a major transformation could be seen on the map. The pathway connecting the road and the museum was demolished, and trees in front of the building were cleared to make way for a car park. A number of trees circling the museum also removed for its expansion. Rooms in the building had been removed except for the local history room. Cafe, museum shop, reception, special exhibitions, and education center section were added. However, the garden in the northwest remains unchanged.

Good job Jessica!

from an overall… were made… which was expanded

Careful confusing past perfect, present perfect and past simple in your answers!

The Chat Represent the survey regarding people’s coffee and tea buying and drinking habits in five Australian cities.

The bar chart shows drinking habits in 5 Australian cities as a relate to coffee and tea on the last 4 weeks .Overall,the half population in all cities except Adelaide went to a cafe for coffee or tea, while buying coffee was also popular and buying fresh coffee generally less normal.

See, first of all at going to cafes,it was more merits of Melbourne and Hobart at 64% and after that 63%.Sydney was comparably high over 60%, followed by Brisbane at over 55%, and Adelaide at under 50%.Further more the Hobart, instant coffee purchases at 54%, Brisbane at 52%, Melbourne at 48% and lastly Sydney just over 45%.

So, the last i sum up according to all information,fresh coffee was below 45% for all cities and basically Sydney 44% and Melbourne 42%, Hobart was next at 39%,Adelaide and Brisbane were much lower ratio produced .

Good Nisha!

as they relate to… over the last … less common … Looking first of all at cafes… higher at over… Furthermore… at just over

Good but be careful with your accuracy!

The table illustrates the percentage of tourist visited in 9 countries between 2009 and 2010. Overall, it can be seen that the amount of visitors visit in France and USA stand out the most in both years and both Hong Kong and Germany are more than 100 percent.

According to the data the number of visitors in France remain the same by 76% while both USA and Spain has a slightly change by less than 2 percent. As for UK and Italy has a small change by less than 4 percent in both years.

However, both Turkey and China has a considerable change by less than 60 percent but more than 30 percent which cause them to rank the sixth and seventh out of nine countries. While, Germany has a huge change by more than 109 percent of visitors but Hong Kong was the lowest visitors by 10 percent in 2009 and in 2010 it  

Great work Jane!

You should mention all categories in the overview (at least partially) to get above band 5 for TA.

Careful with your tense!

The pie chart below reveals the types of works do Anthropology graduates did after finishing their undergraduate course and the table records the salaries of Anthropology graduates for 5 years of work. It can be seen that most graduate students work as a full time and follow by part time workers unemployed full time postgrad study not known workers and part time with postgrad studies. Also the average of salaries of Freelance consultants is much higher than Government sector and Private companies.

Most graduate students were working as full time workers by more than half percent, follow by part time workers by 1\5 of the students and for the unemployed are less than a quarter just 12%. While, both full-time postgrad study and unknown workers have 8% of students. As for students occupation as past time with postgrad study has 5% of them.

However we can see that from $25000-49999 and $50000-74999 private company pay scale was the highest by 10% and 35%. While, government sector pay scale was the highest with the amount of $100000+ by 50%.

Another good one Jane – a really tricky one to do the overview for so I wouldn’t worry too much about this one.

Be careful with plurals, tense, and subordinate clauses/linking words.

The graph below illustrates the number of tourists visiting Caribbean island as well for visitors staying on cruise ships staying on island and total number of visitors between 2010 and 2017. Overall, it can be seen that total visitors rose considerably follow by visitors staying on island and overtaken visitors staying on cruise ships.

Visitors staying on island remained the same from 210 to 2011 by 1.75 millions of visitors and it rose particularly in 2011 to 2013 and it remained the same for the next 2 years by 1.5 millions of visitors. It fluctuated between 2015 and 2017 by 1.5 millions of visitors. While number of visitors staying on cruise ships fluctuated between 2010 and 2013 by 0.25 to 0.5 million visitors. Then, it rose considerably for the next 5 years and reached its peak by 2 million visitors.

However, the number of total visitors from 2010 until 2015 rose significantly and it had not change in 2015 and 2016 but it reach it peaked by 3.5 million visitors by 2017.

Keep up the hard work with all these graphs, Jane!

Good overview for this one and better accuracy with your tense and grammar.

You’re welcome!

The graphs below illustrate the proportion of people who are smoker and consumer of alcohol in the USA, JAPAN, TURKEY and HOLLAND from 1960 to 2000. Overall, it can be seen, USA people had a substantial percentage in smoker and utilizing of alcohol during the specific years. At first graph, the USA in 1960 60 percent of people were smoker and this amount had remained unchanged until 1970 whereas, in 1980 its number had noticeably declined to 46 percent and finally this flow stayed at 40% in 2000. Also, in JAPAN we are witnessed gradual decrease around 10 percent from 1960 to 2000 which same as the USA had stopped at 40%. On the other side, in the second graph, there is a wide difference in TURKEY and two other countries. In HOLLAND in 1960 per person only drank 4 litres and this number had remarkably soared to 11 litres in 1980 and to 2000 had a slight drop to 11 litres. By contrast, in TURKEY at 1960 per person had consumed only1 litre and this line moved upward to 2 litres in 2000.

Great Mahsid!

There is some informality in your writing but otherwise easy to follow!

Thanks Dave for the study material.

You’re very welcome!

sorry, are these below corrections done for free?

The comments I post below are free, yes, Sima.

I don’t always have time to give detailed feedback.

You can consider the paid ones here: course.howtodoielts.com/band-scores-corrections

The pie chart above details the usage of water in Australia in 2004 by various sectors, while the bar chart expands on the residential use of water as it is apparent to be the highest compared to rest of the variables. Generally looking, residential houses took more than the half of the pie, this is followed with Industrial, residential apartments and business which are almost sharing similar percentages. On the other hand, the bar chart shows the peak in the bathroom figure and the most decline in the kitchen’s one. To further analyze this into details, the pie chart presents residential houses as the major consumer of water by approximately 60%. Residential apartments come next by almost a quarter (20%). Business and the Industrial groups both have similar portions of the pie by almost 15% each. Water is less used in the Governmental sector by 10%, while other unidentified usage channels take less than 5%. The bar chart dives deeper into residential usage of water. Bathrooms took more than a quarter (26%), while gardens are almost 24%. This is followed by washing cloths 20%, toilets 15% and finally the kitchen 10%. 

Sorry for the late reply Aala, I think your essay is strong overall and you describe the data well. Be careful with your special and punctuation though!

hello Mr. Dave, can check my essay on task 1, the last thing uploaded in the comments, I really need your feedback

I’ll try to get around to it tomorrow, Aala!

The pie chart above details the usage of water in Australia in 2004 by various sectors, while the bar chart expands on the residential use of water as it is apparent to be the highest compared to rest of the variables. Generally looking, residential houses took more than half of the pie, this is followed with Industrial, residential apartments and business which are almost sharing similar percentages. On the other hand, the bar chart shows the peak in the bathroom figure and the most decline in the kitchen’s one. To further analyze this into details, the pie chart presents residential houses as the major consumer of water by approximately 60%. Residential apartments come next by almost a quarter (20%). Business and the Industrial groups both have similar portions of the pie by almost 15% each. Water is less used in the Governmental sector by 10%, while other unidentified usage channels took less than 5%. The bar chart dives deeper into the residential usage of water. Bathrooms took slightly less than a third (26%), while gardens are even less by 24%. This is followed with washing cloths 20%, toilets 15% and finally the kitchen 10% only.

Replied on the one above Aala! You can also check here: course.howtodoielts.com/band-scores-corrections

Very good orginized

Thanks, Shakha!

Given are two maps of an unnamed cinema illustrating changes that have been done from 1980 till now. A glance at the figures provided reveals that the number of cinema halls upgraded from two to five being able to screen five different movies simultaneously; also noteworthy is the fact that on the lower-left corner of this place, which used to be a hall number1, a relax room and buffet which star to serve food as well as drinks, are constructed. In the place of the buffet of 1980, in which only drinks could be found, a DVD shop is opened. One particularly interesting fact highlighted by the figure is that in 1980, the cinema was associated with a car park, which is now replaced with two other cinemas. The only similarities that can be found are the places of male and female toilets as well as ticket shop which remains on the right side of the main entrance. Looking from an overall prospect, besides the increased number of cinema halls, not only a relax room and DVD shop are added but also an option of purchasing food as well as drinks are provided.

Well written! That have taken place since – don’t use glance because it is too informal.

The overview is also a bit too specific and careful with tense.

The diagram explains the modification of cinema according to the time from 1980 till date. From an overall perspective, it can be readily apparent that the same area has been customized with a variety of services than before.

Two cinema halls are replaced with five and the car park has been completely removed from the area. Back in 1980, the right side of the entrance was occupied with cinema 1, whereas it has been replaced with food and drinks and relax room. Similarly, on the left-hand side of the entrance, drinks have been replaced with a DVD shop while the ticket counter is at a previous place.

Moving forward from the entrance, on the right-hand side, there used to be a toilet; now toilet occupies the area between cinema 1 and cinema 2. On the opposite side, cinema 3,4,5 can be seen now, replacing cinema 2 previously.

Nice writing, Sushma!

There are a lot of mistakes with fixed expressions though so try to study my sample answers more closely and use the same phrases.

The overview needs work or you will be limited to a 5 for TA!

Can someone please mark the mistakes and evaluate the IELTS BANDS for me?

The given diagram illustrates the changes of a cinema from 1980 until now.

Overall, The cinema complex changes a lot throughout time, if we take the basic changes such as the number of theaters and different conveniences such as a Relax room and a DVD shop.

In the terms of cinema theaters right now in the complex, there are 5 theaters rather than 2 in 1980, during the time our world becoming more modern and especially digital so, that’s why there is a DVD shop where you rent and buy the latest movies and daily shows. And for the conveniences now there is a Relax room where you can enjoy and spent time.

But, there is the same thing which is still the same such as the number and position of toilet and ticket counter. There are some more changes but those changes are not that big such as position and list of the menu of the restaurant now it’s on the right side and now you can buy food also, And there is something which is missing now like car parking, Overall the feeling is still the same when we visit the cinema complex

Hi Sifar, you can find out your band score here: course.howtodoielts.com/band-scores-corrections

What score are you aiming for?

Australian water consumption in different sectors and the percentage of its usage in apartments or houses in 2004 are depicted in the pie chart and the graph. In general, it is salient that most of the utilisation of water was from residential sector.

To begin, the proportion of water consumption was relatively unbalanced. This is because the biggest contributor for water consumption in Australia was home owner with more than half of the total chart. Then, it was followed by apartments owner and business which had a similar proportion. Moreover, industry and goverment took the fourth and fifth place, consecutively. Lastly, with the least contributor of the chart was other.

Furthermore, the high percentage of residential water consumption in 2004 was specified into its bathroom, toilet, washing clothes, kitchen, and garden usage. Bathroom came in the first place with around 27%, which then followed by garden with a slight gap of approximately 2%. The third place belonged to washing fabrics which had about 20%. The utilisation of toilet was at 15%, which was 5% higher than kitchen.  

Dear Dave, I hope you can give me some feedback on Task 1. Thank you in advance!

Nice effort, Rifqu!

You need to cover all areas in your overview or it is an automatic band 5 for TA!

The rest of the details are good though there could be more data. Keep working hard!

The diagram below illustrates the changes cinema has undergone starting from 1980 to the present. Overall cinema center has modified such that there are more number of cinema screens and scope to eat and relax increased at the expense of car parking. Figure of cinema screens has increased from two to five. car parking was removed and that place was used to accommodate cinema screens two and three,whereas cinema screen two was further divided into two different screens four and five.cinema one was moved beside to toilet and that place was used to construct relaxation room and foods and drink store. Places which has retained their positions are toilet,ticket center and entrance,Parking was totally eliminated.In place of drinks, DVD shop was developed

Good effort, Madhuri!

Careful of opinion words like ‘relax’ and work on your grammar!

The given diagram compares the changes in cinema structure from 1980 till present. Overall, It can be seen that, the number of cinema hall significantly increased over time.Also,recreational room and DVD shop were installed whereas car parking was completely removed as a part of redevelopment. With regards to cinema hall, three new theaters were added thus making the count to increase from two in 1980 to five in present day.Moreover, car parking which took majority of space in 1980, was demolished later and readjustment of theaters were made in the available space. In addition to cinema halls, recreational room and DVD shop were also introduced for people visiting theaters in current day as opposed to no relaxation room and DVD shop back in 1980.Additionally,Foods were also included along with drinks.

Nice writing Poonam!

Careful with your punctuation though!

The two Theatrical plans depict outlay of 1980 and current times , indicating that cinema outlets have become more than double and shops diversified with toilet remaining the same and parking zone disappearing altogether . In 1980 every corner was occupied with cinema houses , servicing shops and a toilet ,whereas  current times show the optimum utilization of spaces. While cinema houses have grown over the double , ,so have the variety of myriad servicing shops too have extended . The new shops erected on  displaced theatres are now catering to variety of novel uses of entertainment to the viewers who can enjoy variety of snacks , relaxation and entertainment under one roof . Toilets and Parking zone have either remained the same or have been wiped out altogether . Earlier one zone which was allocated for car parking has now totally disappeared . Similarly the      toilets  too have remained unchanged over the time .  

Nice work, Swati!

Only capitilise proper nouns and be careful with your adjectives.

The given map represents the current and proposed plan of a civic center of the 23/1 Mainland China. Overall, It can be seen that although the layout of the civic center has no change in the future, there has been quite significant modification in the area blocks. The North of the current plan contains two blocks for car parking at the ends of the North Avenue which is proposed to be replaced by a cafe in the top left corner and hostel and restaurant in the top right corner. The cinema which is present in between the car parking is planned not to be changed. Moreover, the IELTS speaking and writing corner in the center of the area is expected to be completely removed in the future. Moving towards the South of the proposed plan, the council offices have been shifted to the corner facing the High Street which was is in between the exhibition center and town hall. Next to the council offices, an underground library is an addition to the civic center. Additionally, an underground car parking is also expected along with the town hall. Although the shopping center is expected to remain unchanged, the library is supposed to be replaced by an exhibition center in the bottom right corner next to the Smith Street.

Nice writing Poonam – sorry about the watermark – that’s not part of the map…

Nice writing otherwise though be careful with your definite articles!

The bar chart illustrates the proportion of older people residing in Canada, Germany, and the UK during 1980 to 2030.

 Overall, we can deduce that there is a gradual rise in the ratio of elderly individuals staying in these three countries.

In 1980, we can see that there was a slight difference of around 1% between the UK and Germany in terms of elderly residents of these countries. While, Canadian elderly consisted only 10% of the total population in that year.   Whereas, in the year 2000, there was a marked increase of 20%, which could be seen in the percentage of elderly native of Germany compared to the equal percentile of the rest two countries that was 15%. In contrast, in the year 2030 Canadian elders made more percentage than the UK elderly by roughly 2% of the total, but Germany still remained the highest one among the other 2 countries in all the 50 years that was 25% of the total percentage.

Nice writing again, Archana.

Your overview needs a bit more detail as well – did any of the countries overtake the others?

We also don’t use ‘whereas’ to start a sentence.

The process chart describes the ways by which cocoa products are manufactured for the commercial use. Overall, there are three steps in this process from collecting to dispensing the products.

During the initial stage, cocoa beans are collected by the worker from the cocoa field as a whole bean covered with shells. Then, these entire beans with shells are dried before sending it  for pressing and draining the cocoa liquor.   Afterwards, some cocoa liquor is passed on to the further pressing to get the components for  the preparation of cocoa cake and cocoa, rest cocoa liquid is transferred to the industries for the refining purpose for making chocolates by adding sugar and cocoa.

Then, these cocoa cakes are grinding to make cocoa powder and industrial cake drinks. Also, industrial chocolate, which was made in the subsequent step is refined further and processed before releasing it for the commercial purpose and finally, these products like cocoa powder, cake drinks and chocolates reach the market.

Good, but try to define the stages a bit more in your overview, Archana, otherwise you’ll be stuck at band 5 for task achievement.

Good use of linking words!

The two diagrams provide information on how the design plan of Mainland China’s Civic centre will undergo a change from now to coming days.

Overall In future new coffee shop, commercial building and food shops will be introduced in the place of parking lots in the side of North Avenue while the Victoria Avenue side will be more or less same with relocation of council office, library and exhibition centre between the High street and Smith street.

As the time passes the movie theater and markets will be in the same place with no change at all. The parking areas will be shifted underground from North Avenue towards Victoria Avenue on which the town hall will stand like before. There will be an interchange of places among the council office, library and exhibition centre.

The council office has tend to move just beside the High street with a new larger library built beneath the ground level along side. Unlike the library the Exhibition gallery will be smaller in size in the coming days and will replace the present library behind the malls just at the edge of Smith street.

Great work, Mafruha!

Where did you get that map from by the way?

Careful with words like ‘tend’.

Thankyou I just took a screen shot

The map represents the layout of a museum in 1957 and 2007 . It can be clearly seen in a glance ; there where significant changes made to by 2007 in comparison to 1957.

The museum initially was centered around a garden. In 1957, the national history exhibition was a long room ,the entrance from the road directed to the national history exhibition . The local history room and museum store room where on the either sides of the entrance hall. The museum was parallel to the road .

In the year 2007,the museum has been expanded . In addition to other amenities . The national history exhibition is replaced with the local history room , in the top left corner is special exhibition and on the top right is the education center . The local history in 1957 was replaced with the reception in 2007 and the museum store room was replaced with a cafe.The entrance is relocated to an adjacent room that is newly constructed which is a museum shop.

From an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that there are some radical changes that took place over half a century from 1957 and 2007

Great work Lois!

You need to group and define your changes for the overview to be above band 5 though!

The Picture illustrates various changes till now from year 1980 in Cinema. Overall, numerous cinemas have been built within the region. Alongside, new rooms and shops have been set up with removal of car parking in the North . From year 1980 to year 2020, new cinemas have been constructed within the premises, with only 2 cinemas in first year to total of 5 cinemas in the current year. The car parking has been permanently removed and it is now replaced by two cinemas numbered 2 and 3, one of which is relocated to the top right corner from its previous middle right position. Moreover, cinema numbered 1 has been repositioned to middle left just below the toilet. On the other hand, new shops of refreshments and DVD’s are set up near the entrance replacing cinema number 1 and drinks shop respectively. Furthermore, A leisure room is also made available near the entrance for people to relax. The toilet room, ticket section and entrance position is kept the same over the given time period of four decades.

Great writing Aashish but be careful with punctuation and capilisation especially!

U r awesome buddy, thnx alot for this mind-blowing stuff

please review my writing for task 1 regarding the civic centre!

The maps illustrate a civic center at present and proposed changes for the future. Overall, it can be seen that the space occupied by car parking areas will be replaced by eateries, and both the car parking and the library will be shifted below the ground level.

Presently, along the North Avenue, there is a cinema hall in the middle with two parking lots at its both sides. The future plan delineates that a cafeteria will be built in place of a car park situated at the north west of the center, while hotel and restaurant will occupy the north east parking space.

The Victoria Avenue, which is located in the south of the civic center has an exhibition at the south west corner, close to the high street. Next to it, are council offices and then a town hall. Moving further to the east, in close access to the smith street, is shopping center and a library. In the future, council offices will be shifted to the bottom left, whereas exhibition will be moved to the bottom right of the center. Construction of an underground library will take place where there are council offices at present, and a new parking space will be provided below the town hall.

Nice writing but be careful with subject/verb agreement and using articles.

The overview is also a bit specific.

Keep working hard though!

The map demonstrates the modification that took place in cinema hall over two-year period from 2010 to 1012.

Overall, it is seen that the area of movie theater was planned to expand its area with new facilities like restaurant, showers and coordination. All rooms were made bigger in size.

one of the key changes over two years was overall extension of area of cinema hall. Dressing room was replaced by coordination hall and shifted to top left corner of the hall. Similarly, storage room was converted into admin office. Stage and auditorium were expanded to larger in size. Likewise, ticket office was shifted to the room where there used to be café which was upgraded to a bigger restaurant replacing admin office and ticket office with some extension.

Showers were the facility that was added in 2012 which can be accessed on the south of the dressing room. The space immediately after main entrance was utilized for restaurant.

Nice writing, Roshna!

Modification isn’t a word we would use for this kind of map though.

Also be careful with your articles especially.

The above map delineates the present condition of a civic centre and its future expansion plan. From an overall perspective quite a few changes are planned for the future along with some extra facilities.

At present the cinema hall is in the North of the map with car parking in Northwest and Northeast. The position of the cinema hall would remain unchanged but the parking in Northwest would be replaced by a café while a hotel and a restaurant are planned to replace the parking in Northeast.  The exhibition center is in the Southwest west direction which would be replaced by council offices, and exhibition center would take place of library located in Southeast. The position of townhall would not be changed, but an underground parking would be developed under it. The library which would be replaced by exhibition centre would be moved underground next to car parking. The place where the shopping centre stands will remain unchanged in the future.

Good work, Shweta!

Careful with your use of would – try using the passive voice: is planned/projected to.

how to write this in report form

You can click on the sample answers to see…

The chart given illustrates the relation between the abroad student and local student from in Australian universities between 2011 and 2010.   The line graph is given illustrate the midyear population per million in China, India, and the USA between 1950 and 2000. Overall, the USA was stand steady throughout the whole time. However, India and china registered a significant increased population.   Firstly, the population of the USA was less than two hundred million in 1950. And after fifty years it become about 300 million in 2000, which is less than India and China in 1950   Secondly, India showed a rapid growth between 1950 and 2000, which it has started in under 400 million to more than double the number at the end (1000 million). Also, china started in approximately 600 million, then maintained the same level from 1959 to 1962). Finally, from 1963 china population sharply rise until the population reached about 1300 million.

See my other comment, Muna!

The chart given illustrates the relation between the abroad student and local student from in Australian universities between 2011 and 2010.

The line graph is given illustrate the midyear population per million in China, India, and the USA between 1950 and 2000. Overall, the USA was stood steady throughout the whole time. However, India and China registered a significantly increased population.

Firstly, the population of the USA was less than two hundred million in 1950. And after fifty years it becomes about 300 million in 2000, which is less than India and China in 1950

Secondly, India showed a rapid growth between 1950 and 2000, which it has started at under 400 million to more than double the number at the end (1000 million). Also, china started at approximately 600 million, then maintained the same level from 1959 to 1962). Finally, from 1963 china’s population sharply rise until the population reached about 1300 million.

Nice writing, Muna!

Careful with your helping verbs and main verbs and your subject/verb agreement!

The rendered pie chart and table illustrates job opportunities for Anthropology graduates after completing their undergraduate degree course from a university and salaries of Anthropology graduates after 5 years of work respectively.The data is calibrated in percentage.

Looking from an overall perspective, it is evident that majority of Anthropology graduates are employed on full-time basis. Whilst only a small fraction of student graduates work part-time and continue their postgraduate study. A large number of graduates receive average salaries when employed in private companies wheres the highest wages are acquired in government sector.

To commence with, about 52% of Anthropology graduates work on full-time basis, followed by 15% of students engaged in part-time jobs. Out of total graduates 12% of them are unemployed. Anthropology graduates continuing full-time postgraduate study and those whose data is not known are equal at about 8%. A minimum ratio of about 5% students continue to work part-time along with their post graduate study.

Furthermore, $25,000-50,000 salary is given to 5% graduates by both freelance consultants and in government sector whereas, private companies offer such range of salary to about 10% students after 5 year’ work. Fraction of graduates getting salary between half a million and a million is 15-40% in freelance consultants, about 15-30% in government sector and 35-25% in private companies. 50% of Anthropology graduates receive salary of more than a million dollars while in freelance consultants and private companies it is 40% and 30% respectively.

Nice work though a little bit on the long side – aim for about 175 words!

It is a tough one. Try to add in some more commas on your complex sentences as well.

how much band score would you give to the task?

You can sign up here to find out: Patreon.com/howtodoielts

The displayed bar graph spell out the information pertaining about the total time spent on phone calls in UKin three different categories during the time frame from 1995 to 2002.

Beginning with local calls it is evident from the graph that the figures ascend by leap and bounds from the year 1995 to 1999.Morever, the striking feature of the graph was in the year 1999 with the highest minutes accounting upto 90 billion.However, the figures plunged and the ratio continued to decrease till the end of the period with 72 billion in 2002.On the contrary, if talked about national and international calls ratio it can be highlighted that the ratio began with the lowest i.e. around 38% but saw a considerable growth during the end of the period which means to reach a peak of 60 billion in 2002.

Meanwhile, all calls ratio witnesses a modest increase continuing till 2002. In addition, the ratio started with 5 billion and saw a slight rise till 1998. Afterwards, the figures boosts up and reaching to almost 45 billion.

Thus to wrap up it can be finally commented that national and international calls ratio rose steadily.Similarly, all calls ratio also rose gradually.

How much band score would u give to this report .

Nice work, Richard!

There are too many informal phrases though like ‘leaps and bounds’.

Sir how much band score I can achieve?

Discuss about 2 task

The line graph depicts the French and English teacher’s employment ratio in Ontario starting from 2001 and ending 6 years later in 2007.  At first glance, it can easily be seen that while the figure for French-language teachers showed an upward trend, the percentage of English-language teachers declined. Although, French-language teachers initially had a lower rate. it outraced the English-language teachers at the end of the period.  In 2001, the English-language teachers’ recruitment rate was about 72%, being a bit higher than the French-language teachers’ one by approximately 3%. Then, it declined drastically until 2003, accounting for 40%. However, the figure showed a gradual increase to about 45%, over the next 2 years. After 2005, it continued to decrease, reaching its lowest point at about 28% at the end of the period.  The employment ratio of French-language teachers was 70% in 2001 and over the next year decreased to about 52%. Then, the figure rose steadily to almost 70% in 2003 and continued to gradually grow until 2005, when it slightly dropped to about 68%. After that slight drop, it continued to increase, reaching its peak at about 72% in 2007.  In summary, it is obvious that in Ontario French-language teachers were employed more than the ones who teach English.  Word count: 214

I had a doubt in task 1. If you could please help. Is it a rule that we are not suppose to write ing form of words in writing task 1. Eg: looking ( looking from overall perspective) Fluctuating. Considering. Etc ?

please where is topics for task 1 2023

I’m sorry to ask ,but what is your Writing task 1 score for each of the sample writings here?

Exclusive Ebooks, PDFs and more from me!

Sign up for patreon.

Don't miss out!

"The highest quality materials anywhere on the internet! Dave improved my writing and vocabulary so much. Really affordable options you don't want to miss out on!"

Minh, Vietnam

Hi, I’m Dave! Welcome to my IELTS exclusive resources! Before you commit I want to explain very clearly why there’s no one better to help you learn about IELTS and improve your English at the same time... Read more

Patreon Exclusive Ebooks Available Now!

• IELTS Scores
• Life Skills Test
• Find a Test Centre
• Alternatives to IELTS
• General Training
• Academic Word List
• Topic Vocabulary
• Collocation
• Phrasal Verbs
• Writing eBooks
• Reading eBook
• All eBooks & Courses
• Task 1 Lessons & Tips
• Describing a Graph

How to Describe an IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 Graph

On the following pages there are lessons to teach you how to write an academic IELTS writing task 1 but in this first lesson you’ll get an overview of how to answer a task 1.

You can also view a video of this lesson:

Once you have studied the general structure, you can view other examples by looking at the model graphs that are on this site. 

Alternatively, follow on with these lessons to a variety of strategies and tips to achieve the writing score you need.

Steps to Respond to a Task 1

To analyse this, we’ll look at a line graph. Look at the following question and the graph.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The line graph below shows changes in the amount and type of fast food consumed by Australian teenagers from 1975 to 2000.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

There are three basic things you need to structure an IELTS writing task 1.

• Introduce the graph
• Give an overview
• Give the detail

We’ll look at each of these in turn.

Introduce the Graph

You need to begin with one or two sentences that state what the IELTS writing task 1 shows. To do this, paraphrase the title of the graph, making sure you put in a time frame if there is one.

Here is an example for the above line graph:

The line graph compares the fast food consumption of teenagers in Australia between 1975 and 2000, a period of 25 years.

You can see this says the same thing as the title, but in a different way.

Give an Overview

You also need to state what the main trend or trends in the graph are. Don’t give detail such as data here – you are just looking for something that describes what is happening overall.

One thing that stands out in this graph is that one type of fast food fell over the period, whilst the other two increased, so this would be a good overview.

Here is an example:

Overall, the consumption of fish and chips declined over the period, whereas the amount of pizza and hamburgers that were eaten increased.

This covers the main changes that took place over the whole period.

You may sometimes see this overview as a conclusion. It does not matter if you put it in the conclusion or the introduction when you do an IELTS writing task 1, but you should provide an overview in one of these places.

Give the Detail

You can now give more specific detail in the body paragraphs.

When you give the detail in your body paragraphs in your IELTS writing task 1, you must make reference to the data.

The key to organizing your body paragraphs for an IELTS writing task 1 is to group data together where there are patterns . To do this you need to identify any similarities and differences .

Look at the graph – what things are similar and what things are different? As we have already identified in the overview, the consumption of fish and chips declined over the period, whereas the amount of pizza and hamburgers that were eaten increased.

So it is clear that pizza and hamburgers were following a similar pattern, but fish and chips were different. On this basis, you can use these as your ‘groups’, and focus one paragraph on fish and chip and the other one on pizza and hamburgers.

Here is an example of the first paragraph:

In 1975, the most popular fast food with Australian teenagers was fish and chips, being eaten 100 times a year. This was far higher than Pizza and hamburgers, which were consumed approximately 5 times a year. However, apart from a brief rise again from 1980 to 1985, the consumption of fish and chips gradually declined over the 25 year timescale to finish at just under 40.

As you can see, the focus is on fish and chips. This does not mean you should not mention the other two foods, as you should still make comparisons of the data as the questions asks.

The second body then focuses on the other foods:

In sharp contrast to this, teenagers ate the other two fast foods at much higher levels. Pizza consumption increased gradually until it overtook the consumption of fish and chips in 1990. It then levelled off from 1995 to 2000. The biggest rise was seen in hamburgers as the occasions they were eaten increased sharply throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, exceeding that of fish and chips in 1985. It finished at the same level that fish and chips began, with consumption at 100 times a year.

Full Model Answer:

The line graph compares the fast food consumption of teenagers in Australia between 1975 and 2000, a period of 25 years. Overall, the consumption of fish and chips declined over the period, whereas the amount of pizza and hamburgers that were eaten increased.

(194 words)

Now you've been through this first introductory lesson, you can go to the next lesson or start viewing some model answers. 

More Task 1 Academic Lessons:

IELTS Table: Tips and techniques for a high score.

IELTS Table advice for a high score. Learn how to describe an IELTS table, which is just another way to present data.

IELTS Process Diagram Strategies and Tips

IELTS Process Diagram: In task 1 of IELTS writing you usually have to describe some kind of graph or chart. But sometimes you get a process. It is therefore crucial that you know how to do this. This easy to follow lesson explains how.

IELTS Task 1 Line Graph Structure Using Groups

For an IELTS Task 1 Line Graph there are different ways to organise your answer. Grouping information is a good way to get a logically structured response.

Describing IELTS Graphs: Tips to avoid a common mistake

IELTS Graphs: A common mistake In IELTS graphs is to get the subject of the graph wrong. This lesson explains how this mistake is made and show you what you need to do to avoid it. There is a also a practice exercise.

Tips for Organising an IELTS Line Graph

Organising an IELTS Line Graph - This lesson shows you have to improve the coherency of your graph in order to achieve a high band score.

Which Tenses for IELTS are the Most Important?

Candidates often ask which tenses for IELTS are needed in order to do well in the exam. This lesson goes through the grammar tenses and how they apply to the test.

Useful Language for IELTS Graphs

This useful language for IELTS graphs looks at phrases for introducing graphs and describing changes

Describing Graph Trends Using the Language of Change

Describing graph trends: In IELTS you must know how to describe the trends that you see in the graph you are given. This lesson provides practice with some common language used to describe trends.

Writing Tips for a Graph in the Future in IELTS Academic

Graph in the future: Sometimes graphs in IELTS refer to a future time. You must know the language to write about these. In this lesson, learn how to write about an IELTS graph in the future. Getting the tenses right is an important part of the IELTS writing task 1.

Learn Compare and Contrast Language for IELTS Graphs

Compare and Contrast Language: In the academic IELTS task 1, you have to know the right language if you want to get a band 7 or higher. Practice your IELTS language for bar charts in this task 1 writing lesson.

Describing an IELTS task 1 graph over time

This lesson shows you how to write an IELTS task 1 graph or chart that is over time.

IELTS Bar and Line Graph: How to describe two graphs together

This Bar and Line Graph example shows you how you can write about two charts together in the IELTS test for task 1, with strategies and techniques.

IELTS Pie Chart Strategies and Tips for a Band 7, 8 or 9

This IELTS pie chart lesson provides you with tips and advice on how to describe an IELTS Pie Chart in order to get a Band 7, 8 or 9.

Take an IELTS Quiz to test your IELTS knowledge

IELTS Quizzes to test and train you on the writing task and task 2 of the IELTS test. Gap fills and multiple choice.

Prepositions in Graphs Quiz: Between; from; to; at; of; in; with; by

Prepositions in Graphs: Practice using prepositions in the IELTS test. View a model answer and practice using a gap fill.

Any comments or questions about this page or about IELTS? Post them here. Your email will not be published or shared.

Band 7+ eBooks

"I think these eBooks are FANTASTIC!!! I know that's not academic language, but it's the truth!"

Linda, from Italy, Scored Band 7.5

Bargain eBook Deal! 30% Discount

All 4 Writing eBooks for just  $25.86 Find out more >>

IELTS Modules:

Other resources:.

• All Lessons
• Band Score Calculator
• Writing Feedback
• Speaking Feedback
• Teacher Resources
• Free Downloads
• Recent Essay Exam Questions
• Books for IELTS Prep
• Useful Links

Recent Articles

IELTS Essay: Living with Climate Change

Aug 23, 24 02:37 AM

Grammar in IELTS Listening

Aug 22, 24 02:54 PM

IELTS Line Graph: Governments Expenditure on Research

Jul 23, 24 01:27 PM

Important pages

IELTS Writing IELTS Speaking IELTS Listening   IELTS Reading All Lessons Vocabulary Academic Task 1 Academic Task 2 Practice Tests

Connect with us

Before you go...

30% discount - just $25.86 for all 4 writing ebooks.

Copyright © 2022- IELTSbuddy All Rights Reserved

IELTS is a registered trademark of University of Cambridge, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia. This site and its owners are not affiliated, approved or endorsed by the University of Cambridge ESOL, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia.

• A Beginner’s Guide to IELTS
• Common Grammar Mistakes [for IELTS Writing Candidates]

Writing Correction Service

• Free IELTS Resources
• Practice Speaking Test

Select Page

How to Describe a Bar Chart [IELTS Writing Task 1]

Posted by David S. Wills | Apr 13, 2020 | IELTS Tips , Writing | 5

There are various kinds of diagrams and charts that you may be asked to describe in the IELTS writing test, and one of those is the bar chart . In today’s lesson, I want to share some important advice that can help you improve your writing performance in your next IELTS test.

Describing data for task 1 of the IELTS writing exam is quite difficult and it will vary according to what you actually see. In other words, it is hard to simply teach some language for describing bar charts… Instead, your language will vary according to what the bar chart shows.

However, in this article I am going to break the process down and show you some examples so that you can understand it fully. At the end, I will give you a sample band 9 answer for a really difficult bar chart about people’s weight.

What are Bar Charts?

First of all, let’s start with the most basic question. You can feel free to skip this if you are already totally familiar with it. 😁 What is a bar chart? Basically, it is a visual representation of data using bars, like these:

Bar charts are used to show the difference between volumes or quantities of things because it is easy for the human eye to interpret. Let’s take a look at this example bar chart. I just found it on Google and will use it because it is simple. This is not a real IELTS chart. 🤪

You can easily see what this means. The most common excuse is “I forgot to set my alarm” and the least common is “It was still too dark; I thought it was still night-time.”

That is the purpose of a bar chart. It shows data in a way that is really easy for people to understand. As such, you may encounter it in your IELTS test. In that case, you will have to pick out the most important data and describe it.

Bar Charts for IELTS Writing

As we have seen, a bar chart is just another way of expressing data. For task 1 of the IELTS writing test, you may be asked to write about a bar chart. You will have to write more than 150 words and it is recommended that you do this in 20 minutes or less. (You will have a total of 1 hour for 2 tasks.)

It is important to note that you do not have to describe everything in the chart . Part of the task is picking out and describing only the relevant details. That usually means:

• The highest
• Major differences
• Anything interesting

What does that mean? This is very subjective, and so it is certainly open to debate. Let’s look at an example in order to understand it better:

In this bar chart, our eyes are naturally drawn towards the highest and lowest figures. The highest was in Sweden in 2012 and the lowest was in Finland in 2012. Therefore, both the highest and lowest figures occurred in the same year. That’s interesting!😅

Another interesting factor is that, in every year except one, Sweden had a higher divorce rate than Finland. It was only in 2015 that Finland’s divorce rate was higher than Sweden’s.

The Process

When you need to describe a bar chart for IELTS, you should take the same basic process as for describing anything else:

• Take time to read the question carefully.
• Look at the data and make sure you understand it.
• Find important data to describe.
• Plan your essay structure.
• Write your essay carefully.
• Check your answer for mistakes.

If you follow this basic routine, you will have a good chance of providing a strong answer to the question.

Language for Describing Bar Charts

In the past, I have talked about the language required to describe the following IELTS writing task 1 assignments:

• Process diagram

Bar charts are a little different because the language you would use depends on what is being described and there is no common set language that you would use just to talk about bar charts in general.

In the previous example, we can see that the bar chart features changing data over time. In such cases, we can use relatively similar language to that which we used for line graphs. You could say, for example:

Divorce rates in Sweden peaked in 2012 at a little under 50%, but fell in each of the subsequent years.

However, you can see that in the first bar chart there was no progression of time, so you cannot use language that shows changes in data. This brings us to the next stage…

Common Problems in Describing Bar Charts for IELTS

I used to teach writing skills at a university in China, and one of the most common problems I would have was teaching my students to write about bar charts. They could describe line graphs really easily, but the problem was that they would use the same expressions and structures for bar charts, when in fact something different was needed. Let’s look at two example charts. These contain similar data but there is an essential difference:

You can see that the line graph talks about changing phone prices over time, whereas the bar chart shows the different prices of phones. These prices are all taken from the same point in time .

Therefore, in order to adequately describe these, you must show that you understand the data.

For the line graph, you can say:

The price of Phone A rose from £380 to £410 between December and January.

However, you cannot use this language for the bar chart:

INCORRECT: The price rose from £380 for Phone B to £410 for Phone C. CORRECT: Phone C cost £30 more than Phone B, which cost £380.

This may seem easy to some people, but it is an important distinction and a common mistake. You should practice often to make sure that you know the difference.

Task 1 Essay Structure

There is no single perfect essay structure for IELTS, but there are some that are better than others. For task 1, I generally recommend writing an essay like this:

Let me explain what I mean by that.

It is really important to group your data appropriately. This can be quite difficult, so you should read this article first.

Essentially, you need to choose how to put groups of data together. Let’s take another example:

The chart below shows the total number of minutes (in billions) of telephone call in the UK, divided into three categories, from 1995-2002. Summarise the information by selecting a reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

For this sort of bar chart, you might choose to write two or three body paragraphs. Perhaps you would describe local fixed line phones first, then start a new paragraph for national and international ones, with another paragraph for mobiles.

Another way would be to break the data in half – one paragraph for 1995 to 1998 and another paragraph for 1999 to 2002.

There are lots of different ways. The only really important thing is that you make it clear to your reader why you have chosen to group the data this way. In other words, it must be logical .

Sample Answer

My answer to this question would look something like this:

The bar chart shows the time spent on three different kinds of phone calls in the United Kingdom over a period of eight years, starting in 1995 and ending in 2002. Local calls were the most common type of phone call made during the entire period, although both national/international and mobile calls grew in popularity to narrow the gap between these three types of call by 2002. In 1995, local calls were by far the most common type of phone call in the UK, with more than 70 billion minutes recorded on this chart. This is about double the amount of time spent on national and international calls, and more than ten times as much as was spent on mobile phone calls. All three types of phone calls grew in popularity until 1999, after which local calls decreased year-on-year until they ended the period at around the same figure as they began it – 70 billion minutes. National and international calls grew steadily over the recorded eight years, from about half the popularity of local calls to only slightly less in 2002. Mobile phone calls, however, grew ten-fold from about four billion minutes to more than forty billion.

A Really Difficult Bar Chart

Finally, let’s look at a difficult bar chart in order to show how we can tackle challenging problems.

As you can see, the first problem is that there are two charts! Already, that will prove more difficult than describing just one chart.

Another issue is that these bars look strange. They are all the same size… Why? Well, these represent the population. Each one is 100%, with the colours making up the different weight categories. The total can never be more than 100% because that it is the full population.

Now, you should try to interpret the data. What are the main changes?

• In 1955, there are lots of people at an ideal weight and very few people are obese.
• In 2015, many older people are obese. Fewer people are at an ideal weight.
• The weight distribution was similar regardless of age in 1955, but in 2015 it is very different.

Once you have picked out the important data, you should figure out how to structure your answer. I will use this structure:

However, I will make sure that there are clear comparisons between the 1955 and 2015 data. It is not enough to describe them in isolation.

Language for Talking about Age and Weight

To be honest, the hardest part of this bar chart is not that data but the terminology around age and weight. You can see from the chart that were are looking at age groups and weight groups. Many native speakers find this really difficult to talk about.

When we talk about age and weight, we usually say some form of “to be” rather than “to have.” For example:

• INCORRECT: In 2015, a higher percentage of people had overweight or obesity than in any other group.
• CORRECT: In 2015, a higher percentage of people were overweight or obese than in any other group.
• INCORRECT: In both years, the people who were most likely to be an ideal weight had 20 to 29 years.
• CORRECT: In both years, the people who were most likely to be an ideal weight were aged 20 to 29 years.

You can see how I explained this to one of the students on my writing correction service :

There are also problems with grouping people according to age. We can just say “people in the ___ age group/category” but this becomes repetitive after a while, so we need to use different language.

Talking about age is difficult, especially when describing groups of people who fall into different age categories. One thing to know is that, when you say use numbers, it is a sort of adjective and thus you need a noun to follow it or else it is meaningless:

• The criminals arrested were all 16 to 25 years old.
• I saw a 15-year-old boy running away.

You can turn the “old” into a noun by adding an “-s”:

• There was an increase of 25% in the unemployment rate for 20-29-year olds.

You can also put “aged” before the numbers:

• Most of the recipients were aged 18-22.

Sample Band 9 Answer

Here is my description of the bar chart above:

There are two bar charts showing the distribution of weight categories for people living in Charlestown. The first one is from 1955 and the second is from 2015. It is clear that vast changes have occurred in people’s health during this sixty year period. In 1955, very few people were overweight or obese, and most were healthy or even underweight. In each of the age groups, at least half of people were classified as in the ideal weight range, but towards the ends of the spectrum – the youngest and the oldest people – there were more people who fell into the underweight bracket. Being overweight or obese was a problem primarily affecting middle aged people, but not the most elderly ones. However, this distribution had completely changed by 2015. Although some young adults and elderly people remained underweight, a very slim number in the middle of the age groups did. Being overweight had become increasingly common, and obesity had become a huge issue, affecting people more and more as they got older. For people aged fifty and older, more than half suffered from obesity, and very few fell into a healthy weight range.

Useful Language

I will excerpt some of the useful phrases that appeared in this answer so that you can see how I have managed to describe ages and weights:

• very few people were overweight or obese
• most were healthy or even underweight
• at least half of people were classified as in the ideal weight range
• people who fell into the underweight bracket
• Being overweight or obese was a problem
• elderly people remained underweight
• Being overweight had become increasingly common
• obesity had become a huge issue
• more than half suffered from obesity
• very few fell into a healthy weight range

This was a really difficult bar chart to describe, but using this language I have managed to do it accurately and comprehensively.

Improve your Writing

If you want to get better at IELTS writing, the only way to ensure constant progress is by having an expert give you feedback. Most of the writing correction services that you find online are rubbish. They are run by people do not speak much English or do not understand IELTS. My writing correction service is one of the few that is truly worthwhile. I can tell you all your problems and help you to fix them.

Here is my feedback to someone who wrote an essay about the Charlestown weight distribution bar charts:

Let me know in the comment section if you have any questions. 🙂

About The Author

David S. Wills

David S. Wills is the author of Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the 'Weird Cult' and the founder/editor of Beatdom literary journal. He lives and works in rural Cambodia and loves to travel. He has worked as an IELTS tutor since 2010, has completed both TEFL and CELTA courses, and has a certificate from Cambridge for Teaching Writing. David has worked in many different countries, and for several years designed a writing course for the University of Worcester. In 2018, he wrote the popular IELTS handbook, Grammar for IELTS Writing and he has since written two other books about IELTS. His other IELTS website is called IELTS Teaching.

Related Posts

10 Things You Can Do Today to Improve Your IELTS Score

January 4, 2020

Describe a Party [IELTS Speaking]

January 29, 2021

How to Describe a Process Diagram [IELTS Writing Task 1]

July 9, 2019

IELTS Topics: Music

September 21, 2020

Hi, David. I noticed that you didn’t include any figures at all in your sample answer for the weight assessment. Is that acceptable? This is because I have seen some IETLS teacher who taught us to include most of important figures. Thank you.

The important thing about IELTS is that it is an English test, so you should use your language to describe the data. Most candidates attempt to cram lots of numbers in so that they can use fewer words. The fewer numbers you use, the better. Sure, you can have one or two, but if you are able to use words to describe trends, reflect important data, or make comparisons, then it is much better. If you read my essay carefully, you will notice that I said things like “at least half of people” rather than just repeating numbers. This is a good strategy, although you can certainly put in a few numbers if you want.

Hi David. Thank you for your explanation. I have a question! for describing a chart what verb tens we should use? It depends on something or it has a rule! Thank you.

It depends on the situation. Pay attention to any time frame that is given or the origin of the data. If none is given, then present simple is fine.

Asalam O Alakum David

Can we explain only things in overview except figures, percentage and time trend? I mean only what they have mentioned in the picture.

Secondly, in last 2 paragraphs only should we write those things which they have showed in the graph, chart or map in a simple way.\

Please, confirm me.

With regards

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Download my IELTS Books

Recent Posts

• Commas and Time Phrases
• Ambition and Success: Sample IELTS Essay
• Do the Advantages Outweigh the Disadvantages? – Advice About This Question Type
• Exams vs Continual Assessement [Model Essay]
• British vs American Spelling

Recent Comments

• David S. Wills on Writing Correction Service
• raquel on Writing Correction Service
• Lesson Plans
• Model Essays
• TED Video Lessons
• Weekly Roundup

IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Describing Graphs and Charts

Welcome to this comprehensive lesson on IELTS Academic Writing Task 1. In this lesson, we’ll learn the core strategies to effectively describe graphs and charts, enhancing your skills to achieve a higher score in this task.

1. Understanding Graph Types:

• Familiarize yourself with the various types of graphs, such as bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, tables, and diagrams.
• Identify the specific purpose of each graph and the type of data it presents.

2. Overview Paragraph:

• Craft a concise overview paragraph that summarizes the main trends, patterns, or comparisons in the graph.
• Paraphrase the information provided in the graph for an impactful introduction.

3. Key Features Analysis:

• Identify and select the most significant features from the graph.
• Highlight trends, fluctuations, peaks, valleys, and any notable points that stand out.

4. Data Specifics:

• Incorporate accurate and precise data from the graph into your description.
• Utilize percentages, fractions, and specific numbers to enhance your writing.

5. Comparisons and Contrasts:

• Emphasize comparisons and contrasts between different data sets if applicable.
• Use comparative language to highlight differences and similarities.

6. Language Variety:

• Enrich your descriptions by using a variety of vocabulary related to trends, changes, and data interpretation.
• Employ synonyms and advanced words to convey your ideas effectively.

7. Structure and Cohesion:

• Organize your writing logically, with a clear introduction, main body paragraphs, and a concise conclusion.
• Use linking words and phrases to ensure a smooth flow of ideas.

8. Task Achievement:

• Ensure your description focuses on accurately conveying the information from the graph.
• Avoid adding personal opinions or making interpretations not supported by the data.

9. Grammar and Vocabulary Accuracy:

• Pay attention to sentence structure, verb tenses, and grammatical accuracy.
• Proofread for errors to maintain a high level of language proficiency.

10. Practice Exercises:

• Analyze a variety of graphs and charts to practice describing their main features.
• Write overview paragraphs for different types of graphs to refine your skills.

11. Application in the IELTS Exam:

• Your ability to effectively describe graphs and charts will significantly impact your Task 1 score.
• Regular practice and implementation of these strategies will boost your confidence in the exam.

The art of describing graphs and charts in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 requires practice, precision, and careful analysis. This skill not only improves your writing but also sharpens your ability to interpret and present data accurately.

• IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Describing Graphs, Tables, Charts, Processes, and Maps

In the first part of IELTS Academic Writing, you can come across different types of graphs: a line or bar graph, a table, a map, a process, two graphs or two tables.

You select words and grammatical constructions depending on the type of graph you are writing about. For example, if you got a process (e.g. water cycle on Earth) you use words such as: first, following this, the next stage, then ... etc. For a table, such words are not the best idea.

1. Bar Chart

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The bar chart shows the global sales (in billions of dollars) of different types of digital games between 2000 and 2006.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

In the task, only the part in bold changes.

There may be two tables:

The description of tables is very similar to the description of graphs. We use the same language of comparison and contrast. The table can be easily turned into a bar chart, but the information is better presented with the table: we immediately see the similarities and differences. We should  try to group this information. For example, in case where there are several different countries, they can be combined as developed and developing countries. So, you do not have to write about each country separately.

3. Line Graph

4. Pie Chart

The pie charts compare the expenditure of a school in the UK in three different years over a 20-year period.

We structure the answer as follows: Firstly, we write about the largest parts (40%, 50%, 45%), then we cover those that are slightly smaller (28%, 22%, 23%), etc. 8% and 9% - can be combined. We do not write about each chart separately. We take one category in the first graph and compare it with other graphs - what is the same and what is different.

Sometimes there could be a description of a process OR a life cycle of an animal or insect; and you must be prepared for this. The structure is similar to the rest of the tasks: - Introduction (rephrase the assignment) - The main part (Here we write about the stages / steps of the process and use the passive voice (e.g. water is evaporated) - Conclusion (give an overview, i.e. something in common about the process). For example, how many stages there are, or how the process begins and ends:

Overall, there are eight stages in the process, beginning with the digging up of clay and culminating in delivery.

Process example

In the latest tests people have been coming across tasks with 2 maps. The examiners say that the maps description answers are weaker than the graphs description because, apparently, everyone is diligently preparing for the graphs and ignoring maps: “Since there is a small chance that I come across map description, It is not necessary to prepare for it”. It is necessary) Here in the main part we write about the main changes that have occurred: what was built + where. You can add why it was built. To add more details, you can write about what was / wasn’t there before.

Maps Examples

7. Two Graphs (2 tables, a chart and a table or 3 pie charts)

The graph and table below give information about water use worldwide and water consumption in two different countries.

With this one it is very important to choose the information about which one you are going to write. You don’t need to write about everything! You can choose the most basic information. After you rephrase the assignment in the introduction, you can write about the first chart. In the next paragraph, you can write about the second. This way you will not get confused, and it will be easy for the examiner to read your answer. In conclusion, you can show how the two graphs are connected.

How to master IELTS Writing: Task 1 & Task 2

• How to write an answer to ANY type of Essay task
• How to write an answer to ANY type of Graph task
• How to structure your answer
• What to write in each paragraph
• What grammar to use
• How to link your ideas
• What vocabulary to use
• What you should write to get a high score

Bonus: IELTS Punctuation PDF Guide Everything you want to know to have correct punctuation in your IELTS Writing for 7.0-9.0 Score (31 pages, .PDF)

• You are here:  
• Prepare for IELTS
• IELTS Writing
• Academic Task 1
• How to check IELTS Results
• IELTS Academic and IELTS General: differences and similarities
• Computer delivered IELTS
• IELTS Band Scores and English levels comparison chart
• IELTS Exam: Test structure and Format
• Essay Structure
• Detailed Analysis
• Academic Task 2
• IELTS Vocabulary
• IELTS Listening
• IELTS Reading
• IELTS Speaking
• IELTS Writing Course
• Punctuation Guide
• Teacher Training: How to Teach IELTS
• Teacher Training: IELTS Writing for Teachers

IELTS Preparation with Liz: Free IELTS Tips and Lessons, 2024

• Test Information FAQ
• Band Scores
• IELTS Candidate Success Tips
• Computer IELTS: Pros & Cons
• How to Prepare
• Useful Links & Resources
• Recommended Books
• Speaking Part 1 Topics
• Speaking Part 2 Topics
• Speaking Part 3 Topics
• 100 Essay Questions
• On The Day Tips
• Top Results
• Advanced IELTS

Introduction and Overview for an IELTS Bar Chart

An introduction and overview for an IELTS chart is given below. The introduction is the easiest paragraph to write and the overview is the most important paragraph in your report. Look at the sample paragraphs below for the IELTS chart given and fill in the gaps. This lesson will help you understand introduction and overview content as well as improve your language skills.

The chart below shows the average monthly expenditure by British households in three years.

Introduction and Overview for an IELTS Chart

Fill in the gaps with no more than two words in order to complete the introduction and overview for the above chart. Remember this is about paraphrasing and ensuring information is stated correctly.

Introduction

The (1) ……………………… illustrates the typical (2)  ……………………….. of money spent each month on utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment (3) …………..groceries by households in Britain in three years (1990, 2000 and 2010). Units are (4) …………………. in pounds sterling.

(5) …………………., the largest expenditure by far was on rent in all three years, (6)  ………………. the least amount of money spent was on utility bills and entertainment. Although there was a significant (7)  …………………. in spending on rent, transport and utility bills, there was little change in the amount spent on the two other items.

• chart / bar chart
• Overall (this is the most appropriate linker to use)
• it is not possible to use “in comparison to” or any similar linker due to the grammar structure of the sentence. To use “in comparison to” the sentence must read “…the largest expenditure was on rent in comparison to the least amount of money spent which was on …”
• increase / rise / growth

Here is a full model answer with an alternative introduction:

The bar chart illustrates how much money households in Britain spent in an average month on utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment and groceries in 1990, 2000 and 2010. Units are measured in pounds sterling.

Overall, the largest expenditure by far was on rent, whereas the least amount of money spent was on utility bills and entertainment. Although there was a significant rise in spending on rent, transport and utility bills, there was little change in the amount spent on the two other items.

Expenditure on rent increased from around £450 per month in 1990 to £600 by 2010. Likewise, money spent on transport and utility bills climbed by almost £100 to about £250 and £150 respectively.

On the other hand, the typical amount of money spent on groceries in the UK barely changed, remaining at just over £300 over the three year period. The money spent on entertainment showed marginal change dropping only by approximately £10 to £100 in the final year. Tips & Vocab Paraphrases:

• shows = illustrates
• the average monthly = in a typical month
• expenditure = amount of money spent / how much money was spent

As you can see paraphrases are minimal. Instead of lots of unnecessary paraphrases, alter the structure of the sentence to showcase your language skills. Over paraphrasing can lead to unnecessary errors which can lower your score.

• Either state how many categories there are or list each category in the introduction.
• Always give dates in the introduction.
• Give the units if necessary as a final sentence in the introduction.
• Put key features together in the overview.
• The overview is usually a separate paragraph which starts with the linking word “Overall”. This helps the examiner locate the overview quickly which is considered a good aspect of report writing.
• This IELTS chart is considered a simple chart and all students aiming for band score 6 and above should be able to write this report without many errors.
• See the recommended links below to help you further.

Recommended Lessons

Click below to open the link:

• Diagram Introduction and Overview Bar Chart Model Answer Video: Structure and Paragraphs for Writing Task 1
• ALL WRITING TASK 1 TIPS, LESSONS AND MODEL ANSWERS

…………………………………..

Free Subscribe to get New Posts by Email

Email Address

how is my essay can any one review it and give an estimated band score

The bar chart Illustrates the average monthly spending of a typical British household in 5 different categories (Utility bills, Transport, Rent, Entertainment and groceries) in the year 1990, 2000 and 2010

Overall, rent remains the largest chunk of household expenditure. In a stark contrast entertainment was the least spend upon and the only category which saw a decrease in expenditure. Except rent, utility bills and transport which saw a significant growth in expenditure, the other two were relatively stable.

The expenditure on rent was the largest among all, growing significantly each year from just about 450$ in 1990, slightly over 500$ in 2000 and finally peaking at 600$ in 2010. Contrastingly the utility bills started quite low with expenditure slightly under $100 in 1990, eventually increasing rapidly to around 150$ in 2010. Transport also followed a similar pattern of significant rise in cost from just above 150$ in 1990 to marginally below 250$ in 2010.

On the other hand the expenditure on entertainment was substantially less while also being the only category which saw a slight decrease in expenditure, it was slightly over 100$ in 1990 remained constant in 2000 and took a slight dip to $100 in 2010 The cost of groceries remain stable over the years slightly ever rising in the given period; from been marginally above 300$ in 1990 to just reaching around 350$ in 2010

My website isn’t aimed at providing a feedback or marking service. But I do have time for a quick comment: 1) make sure you use capital letters correctly. The word rent does not need a capital letter in English grammar. So, using capital letters for categories when it is not grammatically correct will lower your score for Grammar, which counts for 25% of your marks. 2) in your first body paragraph, you write “The expenditure on rent was the largest among all” – you’ve already given that information in the overview so you will be marked down for repetitive information. 3) review your linking words. The word “Contrastingly” should be “By contrast” or “Conversely” or “On the other hand”.

These are not big mistakes – but you do get a lower score when you have a lot of small mistakes. So, avoiding these errors will definitely help your score. Writing Task 1 is a short report which means that every sentence must be precise and concise. For a high score, you must be very aware of each sentence and all information. Lastly, don’t forget that writing task 1 is a report, not an essay. When you realise it is a report, your style and aims change and go in the right direction.

Hi Liz, hoe are you,

i have a problem with my time management skills, i mean if write without setting a timer for 20 minutes i can write a very good essay. But i know that i have to write it in the given time , what do you recommend, HELP☹

I’m not clear on your meaning. In the writing test, you have one hour to complete two tasks. One task is a short report and the other task is an essay. Both must be finished in one hour. The advise is to use 20 mins for task 1 and 40 mins for task 2, but you manage the time yourself. There’s a clock on the wall in test rooms and a clock shown on the screen if you take the test on the computer.

Hi Liz, could you please check my title paraphrasing and overview? The bar chart illustrates the typical monthly expenses of British families over three years. The years are 1990, 2000 and 2010. Overall, it is interesting to note that, the highest amounts were utilised on house rent payments and lowest money was spent on entertainment and utility bills.

Remember that the overview is the most important paragraph you can write in your task 1 report. This means it must be more than one line with limited key features. You need more key features if you want a high score. Focus on the overview by reviewing all my model answers so that you do the same as the models I’ve given.

Hello, thanks a lot for your work. I was wondering how you would rate my text :

The presented bar chart describes the average monthly spending among 5 different categories including rent, transport, utility bills, entertainment and groceries by British families in 1990, 2000 and 2010. At first glance, it is apparent that households spent the most money on rent over the three years studied, while utility bills accounted for the smallest proportion of spending in 1990 and 2000. However, in 2010, entertainment was the category with the least expenditure.

Now, getting back to the details, we can see that every category underwent a constant increase in its expenditure except entertainment, which saw a slight decrease in spending from just over 100 pounds to around 100 pounds, and utility bills that underwent a drastic climb in expenditure which jumped from just under 100 pounds to about 150 pounds from the year 2000 to 2010. In all three years, the second largest category of spending was groceries which accounted for over 300 pounds in 1990 and soared up to around 350 pounds in 2010. In addition, transport remained the third spending category throughout the decades with a progression from around 175 pounds in 1990 to about 250 pounds in 2010.

The overview is the most important part of your writing task 1. Always start it with “Overall” so that the examiner can locate it quickly. It will almost always be in a separate paragraph. Also, “Now getting back to the details” is informal and not considered appropriate for writing task 1 reports. Take a look at the language in my model answers and use that language: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/

Hi Liz! Thank u so much!! I learnt more from ur website and from u. What do u think about this introduction?

The bar chart illustrates the typical amount of money spent each month on utility bills and entertainment. Average monthly groceries by households Britain in three years. Units are measured in pounds sterling.

There are certain issues with this introduction. Firstly, the bar chart shows more than utility bills and entertainment. It shows transport and rent as well as groceries. You can either list all categories or just state the number “money spent in five areas of monthly life”. However, if there are only five categories, then state all five. Don’t list two categories in one sentence and then another in a different sentence. This isn’t logical organisation of information and you are being marked on logical organisation of information. The second sentence doesn’t contain a verb and repeats the information about being monthly. Your final sentence is correct. So, go back to my model above and make a note of what you need to remember about writing introduction and then make a list of what to avoid doing. This way, you’ll find introductions easier to write.

The bar chart illustrates the average monthly expenditure in 5 types (utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment and groceries) from 1990 to 2010 in England. The cost symbol are using in pounds sterling.

Overall, the amount spent on rent was consistently the highest expenditure. It was almost 450 in 1990 and rose steadily to exactly 600 in 2010. Whereas, the lowest expenditure was changed, from the utility bills about 80 in 1990 turned to the entertainment of exactly 100 in 2010.

Furthermore, both utility bills, transport and groceries climbed gradually except the entertainment. The entertainment’s expenditure was both about 120 in 1990 and 2000, after which it declined to 100 in 2010 and became the lowest monthly expenditure.

This bar chart illustrates the average money spent by British households in 3 years(1990, 2000 and 2010). Overall, the money spent on utility bills, transport, and rent has a significant increase, whereas it is volatile on entertainment and groceries. The highest money spent is on rent, the flip side to that the lowest spent on utility bills and entertainment. The money spent on utility bills, transport, and rent is an upward trend in all 3 decades. In 1990 utility bills, the spent is below $100 and then there is a slight increase but below $100 in 2000, finally in 2010 it reached nearly double to 1990 which is nearly $150. In transport, they spent less quarter to $200 in 1990, then above $200 in 2000 and a slight increase in 2010. In rent, they spent half near to $500 in 1990, then above $500 in 2000 and a large increase in 2010 to $600. In 2000, the money spent on entertainment is equal to that of in 1990 which is above $100 and then there is a slight decrease in 2010 to $100. In groceries, the money spent in all the 3 decades is above $300, there is a slight increase in 2000 when compared to 1990, and a little move in 2010 when compared with 2000.

You have a mistake in it, you must see the minute detail. the amount is not in dollars it is in pounds.

The chart provides information about British families’ monthly average expenses in five different categories (rent, transport, utility bill, groceries and entertainment) in the years 1990, 2000 and 2010.

Overall, throughout the period, most expenses were made for paying rent while the least expenses were made for utility bills. However, expenditure on grocery items remains almost unchanged.

People from British families spent most of their money on paying rent which increased over the period by nearly 250 pounds starling, 510 pounds starling and exactly 600 pounds starling for 1990, 2000 and 2020, respectively. Then for the groceries, they spent around 310 pounds starling in 1990 and later that reached around 320 pounds sterling in the year 200 and that remains unchanged till 2010.

In 1990 and 2000, expenses for their entertainment were just nearly 110 pounds sterling and later on 2010 amount dropped by 10 pounds sterling. Expenditures in the transport category increased over the year gradually where at the beginning they need to spent about 180 pounds starling, later on, in the year 2000 rose by approximately 35 pounds starling and at the ended with around 130 pounds sterling in the year 2010. Utility expenses increased from about 80 pounds to 150 pounds per month from 1990 to 2010 and there was a small change in 2000.

Hi Liz, than you very much for your help and your website! I tried to write the whole report, could you please let me know what do you think about it? Thanks a lot in advance!

“The bar chart illustrates the typical amount of money spent on five categories (utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment, and groceries) by households in Britain in three specific years (1990, 2000, and 2010). Units are measured in pounds sterling.

Overall, the largest spending was on rent whereas the least amount of money spent was on utility bills and entertainment. While there was a considerable increase in the expenditure on rent, utility bills, and transport, the remaining two categories experienced little change.

In terms of rent, the expenditure stood at around £450 in 1990 and consistently increased up to just above £500 in 2000, before peaking at £600 in 2010. Both utility bills and transport experienced similar growth. Whereas the former rose from around £80 in 1990 to just below £100 in 2000 and further climbed up to roughly £150 in 2010, the latter increased from around £180 in 1990 to just more than £200 in 2000 and to roughly £250 in 2010.

On the other hand, spending in the remaining categories experienced little growth, if any. Groceries started at just above £300 in 1990 and sluggishly grew, increasing this figure by roughly £20 in 2000 and reaching around £350 in 2010. Entertainment was the only spending category that decreased over the considered period, with a stable amount of around £110 in both 1990 and 2000 that declined to exactly £100 in 2010.”

The two pie charts provide an information about the various sources of energy namely oil, natural gas, coal, hydroelectricity and nuclear power, in percentage, for USA between 1980 and 1990. Overall, the highest amount of energy was produced by oil, whereas hydroelectric power was the least sources of energy in both years in the USA. Similarly, coal, natural gas produced similar proportion of energy. However, nuclear power doubled the production in 1990. In 1980, 42% of the sources of energy was from oil that declined to almost 10% (33%) coming to the year 1990. Similarly, 26% and 22% of natural gas and coal was another main sources respectively, of which coal showed a slight increase reaching to 27% and natural gases dropping to 25% in the year 1990. Moreover, in 1980 nuclear power was at the 5% that doubled and reached 10% the next year. However, hydroelectric power remained at the lowest at 5% in both years.

The chart illustrates the average amount of money spent on utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment and groceries, by households in Britain over three years (1990, 2000 and 2010). Units are measured in pounds sterling.

Overall, household expenditure is highest in 2010, compared to 1990 and 2000. Families spent the most money on rent, while the least average expenditure was on entertainment in 2010 and utility bills in 1990, as well as 2000.

The chart shows an increase in spending on all categories, except entertainment, with an approximately £10 decrease. This might not be unconnected with the proliferation of free content on the internet by 2010. Utility bills however, saw a quantum jump this year when compared to 2000 (approximately £50) while increase in the amount of money spent on transportation between 2010 and 2000, was not as much as that between 1990 and 2000 (about £10 and £40 respectively). These data perhaps pointing to increase the access, variety and number of home entertainment gadgets available to households.

In terms of rent, families spent £600 on average in 2010 which is about £150 more than the average expenditure at the start of the study, on the other hand, increase in the typical amount of money spent on groceries remained remarkably consistent (about £10).

There shouldn’t be any interpretations in this task.

The bar chart illustrates the typical amount of money spent each month for five different purposes (utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment, and groceries) by households in Britain in 1990, 2000, and 2010. Units are measured in pounds sterling. Overall, it can be clearly seen that there was an increase in the money spent for all purposes over a period, with the exception of entertainment which was decreased slightly during the last decade. In terms of individual items, while they paid the most for rent in all periods, the least for utility bills up to 2000 only. Eventually, this trend was changed and they spent the least on entertainment in 2010. British households spent a significantly larger amount on rent, groceries, and transport over a period. Out of all, rent was the most expensive, which consistently grew from 450 pounds in 1990 to 600 pounds in 2010. Secondly, while groceries showed a very slight rise of only around 50 pounds from 300 to 350 pounds, the expense for transport gradually increased from roughly 150 pounds to approximately 200 pounds in 2000, then climbed up to 250 pounds in 2010. On the other hand, they spent roughly just under 100 pounds on utility bills in 1990 and 2000, but it moderately increased to around 150 pounds in 2010. In contrast, their expenditure was remained stable with just above 100 pounds for entertainment, whereas, in 2010, it slightly declined to just under 100 pounds.

Hey Liz! Why there is no “a” before the word “little” in the last line of the overview “there was little change in the amount spent on the two other items”?

“there was a little change” = there was a small change “there was little change” – there was almost no change So, you see, the article “a” changes the meaning a lot.

Very helpful. Thanks heap. Liz

The bar chart demonstrates the monthly expenses made by households in Britain in 1990, 2000 and 2010.

Overall, the maximum expenditure is made on rent in all three years with dramatic growth in two decades, followed by groceries, with minimal or no expenditure growth in 2 decades. British people spent less on utility bills and entertainment.

In 1990, the British spent almost 450 on rent, increased by 200 in 2010, which was double the money spend on groceries in 2010. Household expenses on groceries were slightly above 300 in 1990, and hiked by around 10 in 2000 but remained constant after a decade.

Although expenses on utility bills and entertainment were the least that people spent in the UK, the utility bills hiked from below 100 in 2000 to nearly 150 in 2010. In opposite to this, expenses on entertainment were slightly above 100 in 1990 and 2000, which declined and reached 100 in 2010.

The household expenses on transport were two-fold less than that of expenses on accommodation in 1990, around 180 which proliferated by nearly 40 after two decades.

The bar chart illustrates the amount of money an average family in the UK spent on five different sectors in 1990, 2000 and 2010. Overall, the amount of money paid out on rent was the highest among all categories in all three years. There was a considerable rise in utility bills, transportation and rent, while the change in other sectors was minimal. Entertainment was the only sector that displayed a downward trend. Rent cost the families approximately $450 in 1990, and this number increased steadily by roughly $75 per decade to exactly $600 by 2010. Likewise, the amount spent on utility bills and transportation grew substantially, from around $90 and $180 to about $150 and $250 respectively. On the other hand, the spending on groceries rose slightly by about $10 to $330 in 2000, and then remained relatively unchanged in the next decade. In contrast, the figure of entertainment remained comparably stable from 1990 to 2000 at around $110 before a dip to exactly $100 in 2010.

Hi Liz! thanks so much for your help. What do you think about this introduction?

“The bar chart illustrates the average money spent by British people on different households’ necessities at the beginning of three different decades; 1990, 2000 and 2010. Units are measured in pounds sterling.”

You have the right approach, but be very careful presenting false information. This does not show the “beginning” of the decades. The beginning of a decade means the first couple of years. This chart show the whole decade, not just the beginning. Use your language carefully. Be precise. Otherwise, all good.

Hi Liz, I try to write the whole report for the chart, can you give me some comments about my writing? thank you — The chart illustrates the typical amount of money that British families spent every month in five categories in 1990, 200 and 2010. Units are measured in pounds sterling. Overall, except for entertainment, the expenditure on all other categories increased over the period in which the largest spending was on house rental while the least amount of money spent was on utility bills and entertainment. Regarding the renting budget, the figure was just around 450 pounds in 1990 then increased significantly to exact 600 pounds in 2010. This trend can also be seen in the expenditure on utility bills and transport where there was a significant increase of nearly 70 pounds after the period of 20 years from about 80 pounds to nearly 150 pounds and from approximately 180 pounds to around 250 pounds respectively. on the other hand, although the second major spending of UK’s families was on groceries, the change on the number was minor which was from about 310 pounds to 320 pounds by the end of the period. In terms of leisure activities, the figure was unchanged at around 110 pounds for the first decade then decreased slightly to shart 100 pounds in the final year.

u will get 7.5 or 8 band score for this

Dear Liz, First, I’d like to thank you for your useful informations and great idea for people preparing for IS exam and I have a little unclear cases. This is about the IELTS examination past paper books ,which are published by Cambridge, with numbers, such as,1,2,3 etc. These numbers demonstrate difficulty when incerase or just show order. When I practice with others IS practice tests books which issued by other organizations , some questions types from those books are considerable different from Cambridge test books.

They are the order the books were published. Book 1 was published years ago, book 14 will be published next month.

The bar chart illustrates how much the money British families spent monthly on utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment and groceries in 1990, 2000 and 2010. The amount spent is measured in pounds sterling. Overall, it is observed that the British household spent the maximum amount on rent each month during these three years. In contrast, they spent relatively less on utility bills and entertainment. The biggest monthly expenditure of British family was to pay rent, which increased from 450 pounds in 1990 to 600 pounds in 2010. The next big spending was on groceries that remain almost constant at 310 pounds in this period. Furthermore, they also spent high amounts on transport which increased from 280 pounds to 350 pounds in these 20 years. However, the monthly expenditure of British people on utility bills was lowest at 80 pounds in 1990, increased a little to 150 pounds in 2010. Similarly, they spent the smallest on entertainment as they spent 110 pounds on entertainment in 1990 and 2000, which slightly decreased to 100 pounds in 2010. Please check my answer

As I remember that she’s already mentioned on her video you shouldn’t indicate the accurate data such as 150 or 280 pounds this means your band score will be affected badly.

You should give accurate precise data if it is possible to see that figure on the graph. If the precise figure can’t be given, you use “about” or “around” or “just under” etc.

Can you please check my Introduction and Overview.

The bar chart illustrates the average amount of money spent by British households on a monthly basis in utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment and groceries in three years (1990, 2000 and 2010). Units are measured in pounds sterling.

Overall, the highest amount of money was spent on rent in three years (1990, 2000 and 2010) while the lowest expenditure was shown in utility bills in the year 1990 and 2000. On the other hand, British households spent the least amount of money on entertainment in 2010. The chart also shows that there was a steady increased in the monthly expenditure of British households on utility bills, rent and groceries for the given period while amount of money spent on entertainment remained unchanged in 1990 and 2000 then slightly dropped in 2010.

You need to understand the meaning of an overview. See all model answers on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/

The amazing Liz, this website was established in 2014, but I could not find a better one especially for academic writing !! Hurray

I am very happy because of this website.I have been searching that kind of website for a long time.Thanks a lot

It is one of the most useful website for ielts student thank you so much Liz. It is extremely incredible for any ielts student.

I’m glad my site is useful 🙂

your page helped me get 9.0 band score for my ielts exam

Fantastic!! Very well done to you 🙂

Wow! That’s a great score everyone’s dreaming of! What did you get on writing?

I noticed one more key feature that should be in the overview: more money was totally spent in 2010 compared to the other two years. Is that correct?

You need to decide not just which points to put in the overview but also how many.

The bar chart illustrates the amount of money spent by British household on expenses like utility bills, transport, rent, entertainment and groceries per month for 3 years. Units are measured in pounds sterling. Overall, the cost of living expense is seeing an increasing trend in totality except for entertainment expense. Rent and grocery are the major two expenditure of a British household in comparison to other expenses. In a span of 30 years significant increase in expenses like rent , utility bill and transport is seen. Rent saw consistent rising trend about L450 in 1990 to above L500 in 2000 and finally reached L600 in 2010. Furthermore, the utility bill expense in first two years were more or less the same(little below L100) but shot more than L150 in a span of 10 years. The transport expense in year 1990 was little over L150 then it flung to slightly below 250 and then the increase was gradual (approx. 250 in 2010) The expenses like entertainment and groceries were more or less the same over the years. As seen entertainment ranged from approx. L120 to L100 a downward trend as compared to groceries ranging from little above L300 to L340 showing an upward trend over the years.

PLEASE CHECK MY ANSWER TO THE BAR CHART USED FOR INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW.

you are using present sentence form (is, are) in the second body paragraph, which is wrong i guess, it should be written in past because survey was already conducted.

Yes …. Exactly 👍👍

Thank you so much Liz for your useful information

You writing task 1&2 practices and lessons are very helpful!

I just went through your different links of writing task 1. In every writing task that you have written, conclusion comes just after the introduction,but the ielts book which is authenticated by the cambridge and the ielts have the conclusion part at the end of the every task.I’m just concerned about this,why so?

Regards Bharat

See this video lesson: https://ieltsliz.com/writing-task-1-report-structure/

Hi,… Can I use pencil for both tasks of writing section. Plz suggest

https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-pen-or-pencil/

Thank you so much Liz. nd thanks for all the videos..

Can we write all listening answers in capital letter

https://ieltsliz.com/liz-notice-2015-2016/

Is that enough for writing task 1? I mean we have to write at least 150 words for task 1 but there are around 100 words.

This lesson shows the introduction and overview. It doesn’t not give body paragraphs. See my model answers for full writing task 1 reports. Liz

why groceries not included to overview?

Key features are put in an overview, not all categories. You are being marked on your ability to select information. Liz

Ok thank you so much liz.. 🙂

Hi dear liz Can I write (the chart illustrate the medium monthly disbursement. …etc)

No. “medium” is not appropriate as a paraphrase for “average” in this context. Liz

How about the word mean? Is is acceptable?

Hi, Thanks for your valuable informations. Here I would like to ask you about the last sentences is correct or not, because on your explanation states that “little changes in the amount spend on the other two items”. But there are other three items (transport, entertainment and groceries). Am I right or not? Thanks Josna

The other two refers to those which are not stated. Read the sentence more carefully. Liz

can we write atypical British family instead of household

Yes, you can write “a typical British family”. Liz

Hello dear Liz, Can you show us how to discraib 2 charts or 2 lines, because I have seen them many times.

Thank you, Ziyo

See the model for two charts here: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/ Liz

thank liz . I just want to know how to make sure that my grammar are correct .

I can only suggest that you find an English teacher to correct your writing. Unfortunately, I don’t offer that service. Liz

I wanted to ask if it is right to use “while” in number 6. Thanks

Yes, you can use that as well. I’ve added it into the lesson. Liz

Hi dear Liz! Thank you for useful source of information! I have a question. What will happen if I do not write overview for task 1? Instead can I just give general information after introduction and continue to write bodies?

Take a look at this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-band-scores/ . You MUST learn more about how your writing is scored. The band scores show that for one criterion (Task Achievement), you will only get band 5 if there is no clear overview. You need to put key features in an overview statement. All the best Liz

mam some suggest to write conclusion for task 1.is it necessary? what conclusion should contain?

Please look at the videos and tips for your answer: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-lessons-and-tips/ Liz

hello mam , thank you so much for your guidance. can we write the approx value in brackets like for example(around $10)

Yes, you can use brackets in writing task 1. All the best Liz

This is a really inlentigelt way to answer the question.

Speak Your Mind Cancel reply

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

ADVANCED IELTS

Recent New Lessons

Ideas in ielts essays & in ielts speaking, test yourself with linking words, ielts speaking part 2 cue card topics – 2024, new reading exercise for you (july 2024), ielts gt writing task 1 letter: using the prompts for a high score.

Click Below to Learn:

• IELTS Test Information
• Writing Task 1
• Writing Task 2

Copyright Notice

Copyright © Elizabeth Ferguson, 2014 – 2024

All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy & Disclaimer

• Click here:  Privacy Policy 
• Click here: Disclaimer

Return to top of page

Copyright © 2024 · Prose on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

• Skip to main content

IELTS Podcast

Pass IELTS with expert help.

Line graph example

Ielts line graph sample essay.

Home  »  IELTS academic task 1  »  Line Graph Sample Essay

Line graphs come up often in IELTS writing part 1. We will show you how to confidently answer questions about line graphs, helping you practice summarising the data and identifying trends.

For each line graph (or line chart) question, you will need to summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant. You should write at least 150 words. To make the best use of your time it’s important to write with a clear structure, focus on the most important trend or trends, choose appropriate vocabulary and avoid common mistakes.

In this tutorial, we have a band range 6.5 / 7  academic task 1  IELTS line graph example essay graded by an  ex-IELTS examiner  (on our team of essay correctors). There are some great examples of useful feedback to help you improve your own line chart answers.

This line graph tutorial will help you: 

• Choose the right information 
• Use the right sentence structures 
• Decide on the perfect tense to use

Each criteria has been considered and r eviewed by one of the ex-IELTS examiners on our team. T he different sentences in the essay have been colour coded to correspond to the four  marking criteria  used by the  British Council / IELTS IDP .     At the IELTS podcast website, we also have an amazing essay correction service if you need help with your IELTS writing, so this is an example of the personalised feedback you could receive.

Make sure you understand what the codes mean:

• TR means task response – have you summarised the main information and made comparisons?
• CC is coherence and cohesion (does your essay ‘flow’ well, does it make sense?)
• LR is lexical resource (or vocabulary)
• GR means grammar

Therefore TR1 is the first comment about Task Response.

Example line graph question:

The line graph shows the average rainfall for three countries in Great Britain over a 12 month period in 2018.    Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words

The line graph reveals the information of rainfall in three countries: England, Scotland, and Wales for one year starting from January to December in 2018.

In England, the amount of rainfall in January was recorded just above 100ml, which slightly increased in the next month by 5ml, and dipped to 90ml in March. The trend of raising and falling continue for a couple of months and reached its lowest figure in the graph for the month of June at around 70ml. After that, it is predicted that the level of rain will fluctuate and will remain around 120ml in December.

In Scotland, the amount of rain in January was 125ml, dropped unexpectedly to its lowest level to 20ml in February, and rocketed in next month to its peak value of 135ml. In April, the amounts of rain were less than 50ml, then start went up slightly until June. Then after it is predicted to drop until September, the following month it will start climbing up to October, and it will be decreased to 50 ml before reaching to 105 ml in December.

In wales, the rainfall was 50ml in January increased slightly in February and decreased to its lowest point in April around 30ml. In next month went up sharply to 110ml and dipped by 50ml in June. It is predicted that the highest amount of rain will be in July at 125ml and went down just below the month of June’s record. It will remain constant for two months before reaching 105ml in November and it will dip down in December to 52ml.

Overall it can be clearly seen that in each country the amount of rain in January will be approximately same in the month of December.

Let’s look at the essay above with ex-IELTS examiner commentary on each section.

The line graph reveals the information of rainfall (LR1) in three countries: England, Scotland, and Wales for one year starting from January to December in 2018.

TR1 – A good opening paragraph. Effective use of paraphrasing and you have included the key information.

LR1 – This could sound more natural. Perhaps ‘shows information about rainfall’, ‘shows rainfall statistics’ or ‘shows how much rain fell…’?

In England (TR2),   the amount of the rainfall (GR1) in January was recorded just above 100ml, which slightly increased in next month by 5ml, and dipped to 90ml in March. The trend of raising (LR2) and falling continue (GR2) for a couple of months and reached its lowest figure in the graph for the month of June at around 70ml. After that, it is predicted that the level of rain will fluctuate and will remain (TR3) / (GR3) around 120ml in December.

TR2 – Good to adopt a systematic approach to presenting the information

GR1 – the amount of rainfall

LR2 – Check the difference between ‘rise’ and ‘raise’. GR2 – continued

TR3 – Make sure you report the information accurately.

GR3 – Stick to using past tenses here as all the information relates to 2018

In Scotland, the amount of rain in January was 125ml, dropped (CC1) unexpectedly to its lowest level to 20ml (CC2) in February, and rocketed (LR3)   in next month (GR4) to its peak value (LR3) of 135ml. In April, the amounts of rain were less than 50ml, then start went up (GR5) slightly until June. Then after (CC3)   it is predicted to drop until September, the following month it will start climbing up to October, and it will be decreased (TR4) / (GR6) to 50 ml before reaching to 105 ml (LR4) in December.

CC1 – You need to link your ideas together in an appropriate way. Perhaps ‘125ml, and this figure dropped…’?

CC2 – As before. Perhaps ‘… to its lowest level, 20 ml, in February’?

LR3 – Accurate use of some key language to describe graphs.

GR4 – in the next month GR5 – started to go up

CC3 – Take care with your use of linking words.

TR4 – As with the previous paragraph, make sure you report the information correctly.

GR6 – Stick to using past tenses as all the information relates to 2018.

LR4 – Omit the ‘to’ – ‘… reaching 105ml…’

In wales (GR7), the rainfall was 50ml in January increased (CC4) slightly in February and decreased to its lowest point in April (LR5) around 30ml. In next month went up sharply to 110ml and dipped   (LR6) by 50ml in June. It is predicted that the highest amount of rain will be in July (TR5) / (GR8) at 125ml and went down just below the month of June’s record. It will remain constant   (LR7) for two months before reaching 105ml in November and it will dip down in December to 52ml.

GR7 – Take care with your use of punctuation. Use a capital letter for the name of a country.

CC4 – You need to be careful with the way you link your ideas together. Perhaps ‘… in January and this figure increased…’?

LR5 – Very natural use of language.

LR6 – Good to incorporate a wide range of appropriate vocabulary.

TR5 – As before, you need to report the information accurately.

GR8 – As in the previous paragraphs, this is an inappropriate use of tenses.

LR7 – Despite the problems with tenses, this vocabulary is appropriately selected.

Overall it can be clearly seen that (CC5) in each country the amount of rain in January will be (TR6) / (GR9) approximately same in the month of December. (TR7)

CC5 – On the right track to introduce the main features of the graph.

TR6 – As before, there are problems with task achievement.

GR9 – Inappropriate use of tenses.

TR7 – I think this paragraph is intended to be your overview? If so, this would be a useful area to work on as it is one of the key differences between a ‘6’ and a ‘7’ for task achievement.

PROBABLE IELTS SCORE: 6.5 / 7.0

  Some final practical advice for answering line chart questions in your IELTS test:

• Do not start writing before giving yourself enough time to think. First decide the language you will need in your answer. Give yourself 5 minutes to look, think and plan.
• Study the line graph carefully: be clear about the topic and what each line represents.
• The labels on the axes will give you useful information. Look at the horizontal axis to understand the period of time shown, and the vertical or x axis to see how the data is shown (in centimetres, in dollars, in millions?)
• Check the time frames very carefully in the line and plan how time differences will affect your choice of verb tenses.
• What is the main trend or trends?
• The easiest way to make comparisons is by using superlatives in your answer. For example: comparing the largest and smallest amounts of rainfall by country or comparing the least and most expensive products over time.
• Say how two or more lines are related – do they both increase over time? Are any points connected?
• Finally, make sure you have included an overview!

Audio tutorial with transcript

You can download or listen to the audio version here:

| Direct Download Here | Stitcher | iTunes | Spotify | Soundcloud | Transcript |

IELTS task 1 line graph video tutorial

More useful IELTS Academic Task 1 lessons:

• Academic Task 1 Sample Essays
• How to describe a pie chart
• Bar Chart IELTS
• How to describe a map
• Describe an image 
• Describe a natural process
• How to describe a table
• How to paraphrase
• Line graph sample answer
• Marking criteria for Task 1
• Map vocabulary for IELTS Task 1
• How to describe a flow chart
• Essential skills for Task 1
• How to get band 9 for academic task 1
• How to describe a process diagram

Podcast: Play in new window | Download