Academic IELTS Writing Task-1

 Use correct synonyms in your writing.

 Use a range of vocabulary.
 Do not repeat words and phrases from the exam question unless there is no
alternative.
 Use less common vocabulary.
 Do not use the same word more than once/twice.
 Use precise and accurate words in a sentence.
It is advisable that you should learn synonyms and use them accurately in your writing in
order to give an impression that you have a good range of vocabulary.

Structure
The structure I advise all my students to write is a very simple four paragraph structure.
You can use a different structure if you like, but this one has been proven to be successful
and approved by IELTS examiners.

Paragraph 1 (Introduction)

Sentence 1- Paraphrase Question

Paragraph 2 (Overview)

Sentence 1- Overview of first main feature

Sentence 2- Overview of second main feature

Sentence 3- Make general comparison, if appropriate

Paragraph 3 (Details of significant feature 1)

Sentence 1- Supporting details

Sentence 2- Supporting details

Sentence 3- Supporting details/comparison details, if appropriate

Paragraph 4 (Details of significant feature 2)

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Sentence 1- Supporting details

Sentence 2- Supporting details

Sentence 3- Supporting details/Comparison details, if appropriate

We will now look at each paragraph in more detail.

Paragraph 1 (Introduction)

Sentence 1- Paraphrase Question

This paragraph should be one sentence long and demonstrates your ability toparaphrase.
You do this by using synonyms and we will look at it in more detail below.

Paragraph 2 (Overview)

Sentence 1- Overview of first main feature

Sentence 2- Overview of second main feature

Sentence 3- Make general comparison, if appropriate

An overview is a general statement, highlighting the most important information in the

table. It should not include any numbers. This is just a summary of the main features. You
can use numbers to support your answer in paragraphs 3 and 4.

The examiner is testing your ability to identify the most important information and then
summarize it. Important information could include general trends, increase/decreases,
differences, comparisons etc.

More on how to identify significant features and write an effective overview below

Paragraph 3 (Details of significant feature 1)

Sentence 1- Supporting details

Sentence 2- Supporting details

Sentence 3- Supporting details/comparison details/exceptions, if appropriate

In this paragraph you take the first general statement from paragraph 2 and support it with
details from the graph. The examiner is looking for your ability to choose the correct data
and ability to describe data, trends, comparisons etc..

You then repeat this process for paragraph 4, only this time you describe the second
sentence in paragraph 2.

Paragraph 4 (Details of significant feature 2)

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 Sentence 1- Supporting details

Sentence 2- Supporting details

Sentence 3- Supporting details/comparison details/exceptions, if appropriate

That’s it. Four paragraphs and 9-10 sentences. Obviously, you need to be flexible and write
8-12 sentences depending on the question. There may also be three significant features, in
which case you can adjust the structure slightly.

You should not write a conclusion. Conclusions are for opinion or discursive essays and we
are not expected to this in task 1.

This structure will allow you to practice this kind of question over and over, giving you
confidence and a consistent model in the exam.

Identifying Main Features

This is often the area most students struggle with and it is because on one main reason.
Students need to prioritise. Prioritising means you should choose two or three significant
features and just write about these. The examiner expects you to do this and the question
will often specifically say ‘select main features.’ There should be 2 or 3 main features for
you to comment on.

When students don’t do this they write about every single piece of data they see. This
results in them not summarising (this is a summarising task), not writing an effective
overview and spending too much time on this task. How many students do you know who
spent too much time on task 1 and didn’t finish task 2?

Things that you should be looking for include:

 High/low values
 Erratic values
 Biggest increase/decrease
 Volatile data
 Unchanging data
 Biggest majority/ minority (pie charts)
 Biggest difference/similarities
 Major trends
 Notable exceptions

Looking for these things should allow you to pick out the most important features.

Another thing students often do is overthink the question. They think that the answer is too
obvious and therefore don’t write about it. A common main feature is a general increase or
decrease. Some students see this as too simple and ignore it all together. Don’t do this,
reporting obvious or simple features is fine.

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Sample Answer

The diagram shows the levels of charitable donations of people living in Britain, separated
by age, between 1990 and 2010.

Overall, there was a general decrease in the percentage of people who donated money over
the two time periods. However, the pattern differs between the three age groups before 50
and the two age groups after the age of 50.

The highest decrease was in the 18-25 category, which saw a decrease of 10%, from 17% in
1990 to 7% in 2010. 42% of people in the 36-50 age group gave to charity in 1990, the
highest on the chart, and this fell to 35% in 2010. There was also a significant decline in
donations among 26-35 year olds, from 31% to 24%.

The exception to this general trend downwards was among the 51-65 year olds and over
65s. In 2010, the 51-65 year olds gave the highest percentage with nearly 40 per cent and
this rose from 35% in 1990. Finally, those over 65 displayed a slight percentage increase of
3 per cent.

(174 words)

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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.

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

1. Introduce the graph

2. Give an overview
3. Give the detail

We’ll look at each of these in turn. 

1) 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. 

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2) 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. 

3) 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:

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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 leveled 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

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 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.

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.

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.

(194 words)

Vocabulary for the Introduction Part:

Starting Presentation Type Verb Description

The given / the diagram / table / figure / shows / represents / the comparison of ….
supplied / the illustration / graph / chart / depicts / illustrates / the differences ….
presented / the flow chart / picture/ presents/ gives / provides / the number of ….
shown / the presentation/ pie chart / describes / compares/ information on ….
provided bar graph/ line graph / shows contrast / indicates / data on ….
table data/ data / figures / gives data on / the proportion of….
information / pictorial/ gives information on/ the amount of ….
process diagram/ map/ pie presents information information on....
chart and table/ bar graph about/ shows data about/ data about...
and pie chart ... demonstrate/ outlines/  
summarise...  

Example : 
1. The provided diagram shows data on employment categories in energy producing
sectors in Europe starting from 1925 and till 1985.
2. The given pie charts represent the proportion of male and female employee in 6 broad
categories, divided into manual and non-manual occupations in London. 
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3. The chart gives information on expenditures of 4 European countries on six consumer
products namely Germany, Italy, Britain and France.
4. The supplied bar graph compares the number of male and female graduated in three
developing countries while the table data presents the overall literacy rate in these
countries. 
5. The bar graph and the table data depicts the water use in different sectors in five
regions.

In general, In common, As is presented, Generally speaking, As is

observed, As a general trend, As can be seen, Generally speaking,
Overall.

Example:
1. In general the employment opportunity has increased till 1970 and has dropped down
afterward.
2. As is observed, the figures for imprisonment in the five mentioned countries show no
overall pattern of increase or decrease rather shows the considerable fluctuation from
country to country.
3. Generally speaking, USA had far more standard life than all the other 4 mentioned
countries. 
4. As can be seen, the highest number of passengers used the London Underground
station at 8:00 in the morning and at 6:00 in the evening.
5. Generally speaking, more men were engaged in managerial positions in 1987 than that
of women in New York.

 Vocabulary to show the changes:

Trends Verb form Noun Form

Increase rise / increase / go up / uplift / rocket(ed) / a rise / an

climb / upsurge / soar. increase / an
upward trend / a
growth
Decrease fall / decrease / decline / plummet / plunge / drop a fall / a decrease
/ reduce / a reduction / a
downward
trends /a 
downward

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 tendency /  a
decline/ a drop
Steadiness unchanged / level out / remain constant / remain a steadiness/ a
steady / plateau / remain the same / remain stable plateau / a
/ remain static stability/ a static

Gradual Increase   an upward

------------ trend / an
upward tendency
/ a ceiling trend
Gradual decrease   a downward
 ------------ trend / a
downward
tendency / a
descending trend
Standability level(ed) off / remain(ed) constant / remain(ed)  
unchanged / remain(ed) stable / prevail(ed) --------------
consistency / plateaued / reach(ed) a plateau /
stay(ed) uniform /immutable / level(ed) out/
stabilise/ remain(ed) the same.
Examples:
1. The overall sale of the company has increased by 20% at the end of the year.
2. The expenditure of the office remained constant for the last 6 months but the profit
rose by almost 25%.
3. There was a 15% drop in the student enrollment of the University.
4. The population of the country remained almost the same as it was 2 years ago.
5. The population of these two cities increase significantly in the last two decades and
it is predicted that it will remain stable in the next 5 years.
Tips: Use 'improve' /'an improvement' to describe a situation like economic condition or
employment status. To denote numbers use other verbs/nouns like increase.

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 Vocabulary to represent changes in graphs:

Type of Change Adverb form Adjective form

Rapid change dramatically / rapidly / sharply dramatic / rapid / sharp / quick /

/ quickly / hurriedly / hurried / speedy / swift
speedily / swiftly
Moderate moderately / gradually / moderate / gradual /
change progressively / sequentially    progressive /  sequential

Slight change slightly / slowly / mildly / slight / slow / mild / tedious

tediously

Example: 
1. The economic inflation of the country increased sharply by 20% in 2008.
2. There was a sharp drop in the industrial production in the year 2009. 
3. The demand for new houses dramatically increased in 2002.
4. The population of the country dramatically increased in the last decade. 
5. The price of the oil moderately increased in last quarter but as a consequence the
price of daily necessity rapidly went up.

Vocabulary to represent frequent changes in graphs:

Type of Change Verb form Noun form

 Rapid ups and wave / fluctuate / oscillate / waves / fluctuations /

downs vacillate / palpitate oscillations / vacillations / 
palpitations

Example: 
1. The price of the raw materials fluctuated for the first three months.
2. The graph shows the oscillations of the price of fuel from 1998 to 2002.
3. The passenger number in this station oscillates throughout the day but early morning
and evening are the two busiest time.
4. The changes of car production in Japan shows a palpitation for the second quarter of
the year. 
5. The number of students in debate clubs fluctuated in different months as a rapid ups
and downs could be observed in the last three months.

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 Grammatical Range and Accuracy:
Uses a wide range of structures with full flexibility and accuracy.
Rare minor errors occur only as ‘slips’.

You do not need to write down every bit of information presented in the graph. Rather,
you are expected to write the most significant features of the graph and the highest and
lowest point are two significant information you should not miss in your writing.
Following is a list of useful vocabulary to learn by heart and to use them in your graph
response.

Vocabulary to represent highest and lowest point in graphs:

Type Verb Noun

Highest peak / culminated / climax / reach  a peak / hit a peak / touch a peak / hit a
Point the highest point / reach the vertex vertex / get a
vertex / get the
highest point

Lowest touched the lowest point / get the lowest point / the lowest point
Point /the lowest mark /
bottommost point /
rock bottom point/
bottommost mark

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  Example:
1. The price of the oil reached a peak amounting $20 in February and again touched
the lowest point amounting only $10 in July.
2. Student enrollment in foreign Universities and Colleges increased dramatically
hitting a peak of over 20 thousand in 2004.
3. The highest number of books was sold in July while it was lowest in December.
4. The oil price reached a pick in 2003 while it was lowest in 2006.
5. The sell volume of the DVD hit a pick with 2 million copies sold in a month but after
just three months it reached the bottom with only 20 thousand sold in a month. 

Vocabulary to represent comparison in graphs:

Type Word(s) should be used

Similar about / almost / nearly / roughly / approximately / around / just about

/ very nearly /

Just over just above / just over / just bigger / just beyond / just across

Just short just below / just beneath / just sort / just under / just a little

Much more well above / well above / well beyond / well across / well over

Much less well below / well under / well short / well beneath

 Example: 
1. The number of high-level women executives is well beneath than the number of
male executives in this organization where approximately 2000 people work in executive
levels.
2. About 1000 people died in the highway car accident in 2003 which is well above
than the statistics of all other years.
3. The number of domestic-violence cases was just below 500 in March which is just a
little over than the previous months.
4. The average rainfall in London in 2014 was just above than the average of other
two cities.

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5. The salaries of male executives in thee out of four companies were well above than
the salaries of female executives in 1998.

Vocabulary to write the Conclusion part:

To draw the conclusion:  In conclusion / To conclude / On the whole.
To Summarize:  In short / In brief / To sum up / In summary.
Examples:
1. In conclusion, third world countries have improved their production sectors like:
garments, over the last 10 years whereas the first world countries have improved their
technology and research sectors during the same period.
2. In brief, the overall sale of the company has improved in the last 5 years except 2005
when the sale reduced significantly due to retrenchment.

3. In summary, the process of building an IC is a complex one and involves more than eight
steps to complete including the testing phase.

4. On the whole, the women employment progressed remarkably in the last decade and in
some employment sectors women are well ahead of men.

5. To conclude, weather forecasting is a complex process and a great deal of technology is

used to prepare and broadcast the reliable weather forecasting.

Tip: 'In a nutshell' is not a formal expression and this is why, you should not use it in your
IELTS Writing.

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Few more informal expressions with their formal versions are given below. Since IELTS is a
formal test, your writing should be formal as well. Using informal words or expressions
should be avoided. Some of the informal words are so frequently used that it would be
tough for you to eliminate them from your writing. However, we would suggest you to
make a habit of using formal words and expressions instead- for your performance and
band score's sake.

Informal Formal
Go up Increase
Go down Decrease
Look at Examine
Find about Discover
Point out Indicate
Need to Required
Get Obtain
Think about Consider
Seem Appear
Show demonstrate/
illustrate
Start Commence
Keep Retain
But However
So Therefore/
Thus
Also In addition/
Additionally
In the meantime In the interim
In the end Finally
Anyway Notwithstanding
Lots of/ a lot of Much, many
Kids Children
Cheap Inexpensive
Right Correct
I think In my opinion

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IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary:

Following are the vocabularies for Academic IELTS Writing Task 1 grouped as Noun, Verb,
Adjective, Adverb, and Phrase to help you improve your vocabulary and understanding of
the usages of these while describing a graph.

Noun:
Increase:
A growth: There was a growth in the earning of the people of the city at the end of the year.
An increase: Between the noon and evening, there was an increase of the temperature of
the coast area and this was probably because of the availability of the sunlight at that time.
A rise: A rise of the listener in the morning can be observed from the bar graph.
An improvement: The data presents that there was an improvement of the traffic
condition between 11:00 am till 3:00 pm.
A progress: There was a progress in the law and order of the city during the end of the last
year.
Rapid Increase:
A surge: From the presented information, it is clear that there was surge on the number of
voter in 1990 compared to the data given for the previous years.
A rapid increase/ a rapid growth/ a rapid improvement: There was a rapid growth in
the stock value of the company ABC during the December of the last year.
N.B: Following adjectives can be used before the above nouns to show a rapid growth/
increase of something:

Rapid, Sudden, Steady, Noticeable, Mentionable, Tremendous, huge, enormous, massive,

vast, gigantic, monumental, incredible, fabulous, great etc.
(The above list is the words which are actually adjective and can be used before nouns to
show the big changes)
Highest:
A/ The pick: The number of visitors reached to the pick in 2008 and it exceeded 2 million.
Top/ highest/ maximum: The oil prices reached to the top/ highest in 1981 during the
war.
N.B: Some of the words to present the highest/ top of something are given bellow:

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Apex, pyramid, zenith, acme, obelisk, climax, needle, spire, vertex, summit, tower, most,
greatest, max, tops, peak, height, crown...

Changes:
A fluctuation: There was a fluctuation of the passenger numbers who used the railway
transportation during the year 2003 to 2004.
A variation: A variation on the shopping habit of teenagers can be observed from the data.
A disparately/ dissimilarity/ an inconsistency: The medicine tested among the rabbits
shows an inconsistency of the effect it had.

Steadiness:
Stability: The data from the line graph show a stability of the price in the retail market
from January till June for the given year.
A plateau: As is presented in the line graph, there was a plateau of the oil price from 1985
to 1990.
Decrease:
A fall: There was a fall of the price of the energy bulbs in 2010 which was less than $5.
A decline: A decline occurred after June and the production reached to 200/day for the
next three months.

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A decrease: After the initial four years, the company’s share price increased and there was
a decrease of the loss it was bearing.

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