GUIDELINE IELTS WRITING TASK 1

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Global Manpower International English

IELTS Writing Task 1

GUIDELINE IELTS WRITING TASK 1

I. TASK 1 OVERVIEW
1/ Overview:
- Time allowed: maximum 20 minutes
- Words: at least 150 words
In IELTS writing task 1, you will be given chart writing, on the time allowed, you should
write as quick as possible and provide all information related to the types of chart. Each
type of chart has its own way of analysis and we normally have 6 types: line graph, pie
chart, bar chart, table, diagram and map. Besides, we also have a combined type of chart
that is made from at least 2 kinds of picture illustration.
2/ Structure of writing:
Introduction: what does the chart show? (type of chart, function, object,
time/place)
Overview / summary: what are the most noticeable features? it normally stays
after the introduction
Specific details: try to write 2 paragraphs.
Conclusion (optional)
Note:

a/ Do not simply copy the words used on the graphic material (repetition is not
allowed)
b/ In writing body
Remember to check the tense
Remember to use comparison and contrasting (if any)
Do not repeat information and list all data illustrated.
c/ 'Overview' not conclusion
You don't need to write a conclusion for IELTS writing task 1. You need to write an
"overview" of the information.
Question: But why don't you need to write a conclusion? What's the difference between a
conclusion and an overview?
First, a conclusion is really a final judgement, decision or opinion. This is perfect
for the task 2 essay, but task 1 asks you to write a description without analysis or
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Global Manpower International English

IELTS Writing Task 1

opinions. On the other hand, an "overview" is a simple description of the main

points. It is a summary of the information shown in the graph or chart.
Second, a conclusion should be at the end of a piece of writing. An overview or
general summary could go either at the end or near the beginning. it's a good idea
to describe the main features of the graph or chart near the beginning of your
essay.
II. Assessment criteria
1. Task Achievement: How much information can you convey from picture t your
writing?
Being able to follow the instructions properly
Being able to write an accurate and relevant description of the information
Being able to analyze the important trend of the chart only.
2. Coherence and Cohesion: could reader understand your words?
The writing should have clear and easy-to-catch structure (3 parts mentioned
above) and possesses sufficient amount of connective words.
3. Lexical Resources: How flexible are your sentence structures and words?
Be able to use wide and flexible range of vocabulary and structures
Good words spelling
4. Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Do you write in accurate form?
Use appropriate and accurate grammar points and structures

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Global Manpower International English

IELTS Writing Task 1

III. LINE GRAPH

1. Definition
Graphical infographic that displays quantitative information or it can
illustrate relationships between two changing quantities (variables) with a line or curve
that connects a series of successive data points.
A grouped line graph compares a trend with on or more other trends, and shows if
its rate of change is increasing, decreasing, fluctuating, or remaining constant.
Note: Line graphs are the most versatile and most extensively used family of graphs.
2. General structures and suggested ideas
a. Opening
Introduction (type of the graph, use of the graph, object of the graph, time/place)
Note: line graph is used to describe trend (one object changes over the time)
Overall trend: objects are divided by groups of trend: upward, downward,
stable
b. Body
Divide the time into different small phrases and analyze the trend of lines
The writing should comprise of:

The level of beginning point

How objects change
The intersection: equality of two objects
The level of ending point

3. Example and analysis:

a. Example 1:

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Global Manpower International English

IELTS Writing Task 1

Level: 3.5 to 4.5

The line graph let us know the number of international tourists come to Brazil, Egypt,
Malaysia, France and the USA from 1995 to 2010. In 2010, the one had the most people
came is the USA and France at the same number. The smallest amount of visitors is to
Brazil in 2010. Clearly, 1995 is the bad year for tourism because the tourists were
coming more after that. For example: Brazil in 1995: 10 milions tourist, in 2010: 13
milions tourists. The other countries is the same, the number of tourists were rising.
Although there are some ups and downs through the past years, but they are all still
rising.
Overall, I think Malaysia tourism and France and Brazil and Egypt has the potential to
continue rising after 2010.
(129 words)
Remark:
Good points:
The write know what information should be included in writing opening, body
The structure used are in IELTS form: S + V +adv
Improvement:
Insufficient number of words
Inappropriate lead-in (opening - red word): in IELTS writing, the language used
must be formal, we do not use let us, instead, it must be
indicates/shows/illustrates
Limited range of structure. You can see in the sample there are mostly simple
sentences (brown): S + V + adv
Basic grammar errors (blue):
+ Verb in plural and singular form
+ Unit of measurement: remember that after a number, the unit of measurement
such as million/billion/hundred will never be in plural form.
+ Tense: always check carefully what tense the writing use from the beginning to
the end.
Good structure but with errors (green): the sentence may raise the score in your
writing but it gets mistake.
Not include significant details of given information: number, trend
Inappropriate format: remember to separate opening and body by jumping to the
next row and make the beginning letter of the sentence to be in capital.

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Global Manpower International English

IELTS Writing Task 1

Level: 5.0 to 6.0

Given is a line graph illustrating the international tourist arrivals in five countries from
1995 to 2010. As travelling is becoming a common interest and a lifestyle, there is no
doubt that the number of foreign visitors in these five countries following with an
increasing trend.
The USA has always been the most favorite tourist destination. It reached the number of
70 millions visitings in 1995 while Brazil together with Egypt stood at the bottom with
only 10 million tourists arrivals. France ranked in the second place. Malaysia tourism
was also doing a great job when attracted more and more tourists over the years,
according to the given data. In 2000, Brazil tourist arrival level started to rise. The same
trend happened to Egypt with a slightly different figure. In the last year, 2010 witnessed
a significant feature: France and USA gained an equal figure of international arrivals,
about 90 million, putting France into a competition with USAs tourism.
In conclusion, tourism in every five countries had a trend of development and there
were dramatic changes in the future with France and USA, which are the most and the
second most popular travelling choice at that time.
(197 words)
Remark
Good points:
The writer know how to write opening:
Academic opening (red): good structure Given is/are + (name of the
chart) + V-ing (function) + Object + Place/Time
Presents an overview with information appropriately selected (yellow)
Body: Use a mix of simple and complex sentence: (orange)
Good structure of IELTS writing: Appropriate format with 3 parts: opening, body,
conclusion
Acceptable amount of vocabulary and structure
Sufficient amount of words required (>150 words)
Improvement:
Comparison: the writing quite lack of comparison structure
However, in the writing, there are some mistakes in grammar and language used,
in fact, it is acceptable to get a mistake but you should limit the number of
committing in order not to be reduced the mark: (Blue)
+ Unit of measurement: remember that after a number, the unit of measurement
such as million/billion/hundred will never be in plural form.
+ Language:
Wrong nouns: visitings visits
Informal language: do a great job to be in great position

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Global Manpower International English

IELTS Writing Task 1

Above 6.5
Given is a line graph showing the overall numbers of tourist arrivals in five countries in
the period between 1995 and 2010. It is evident that there were all upward trend in
tourists number for the five countries, in that, France saw the most significant increasing
level of visits in the last year of the period.
In details, in 1995, over 70 million tourists visited the United States, more than twice as
many as the next most popular destination shown, France. However, between 2005 and
2010, there was a decrease of approximately 1,500,000 in the numbers going to the
United States whereas there was an increase of nearly 20 million tourists visiting France.
The result was that in 2010 the number of tourists arriving in the United States and
France was almost equal at around 90 million each.
Regarding the remaining countries, the number of tourists visiting Malaysia rose steadily
over the whole period but by 2010 the total was still under 50 million. The countries with
the fewest tourist arrivals were Brazil and Egypt. In specific detail, the number of
tourists going there was similar between 1995 and 2000 but after that/then there was a
greater increase in tourists going to Egypt than to Brazil.
(206 words)
Remark
Good points:
Academic opening (red): good structure Given is/are + (name of the chart) +
V-ing (function) + Object + Place/Time
Presents an overview with information appropriately selected (yellow)
Appropriate format with 3 parts: opening, body, conclusion
Use comparison sentence: (orange)
Transitional words: (green) the writing ideas are connected and easy for readers
to follow
The writer knows how to divide the lines into layers to analyze: the two higher
should be come together and the remaining others are in the same group. It is
easier to see the relationship in the figures of two layers and the relationship
among lines in each layer: in this case, the USA and France are in a layer while
Malaysia, Egypt and Brazil are in the second lower figure layer
Improvement:
The writer may use wider range of other uncommon vocabulary and transitional
words to raise the score
It is acceptable to get a mistake but you should limit the number of
committing in order not to be reduced the mark
b/ Example

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Global Manpower International English

IELTS Writing Task 1

Level: 3.5 to 4.5

This graph is a line graph provide us information about U.S energy Consumption from
1980 to 2030. From 1980 to 1985, Hydropower, Nuclear, Solar Wind was less used
while Petrol and Gas was the most popular. From 1990 to 2010 there was some
fluctuation in the using rate of every type of energy except Petrol and Oil. From 2010 to
2030 there will have been an dramatic increase in the using rate of every type of energy.
As the world population is booming, people need more energy to survive. Therefore,
each energy type using rate will keep rising. But still, as known from decades ago, Petrol
and Oil still the most used energy and is expected to reach 47 Quadrillion Units in the
year 2030.
In conclusion, energy is crucial to humans life so the using consumption will never stop
rising. Especailly new types of energy coal or nuclear power.
(150 words)
Remark:
Good points:
The write know what information should be included in writing opening, body
The structure used are in IELTS form: S + V +adv
Improvement:
Inappropriate lead-in (opening - red word): grammar mistake in opening:
provide providing
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IELTS Writing Task 1

Limited range of structure. You can see in the sample there are mostly simple
sentences (brown): S + V + adv
Basic grammar errors (blue):
+ Verb in plural and singular form: was/were
+ Article: a/an
Spelling: remember to check the spelling of the words before finishing to write,
more than 3 misspelling will lead to deduction in ILETS writing task 1 mark. In
this case, we have to change especailly especially
Not include significant details of given information: lack of figure to illustrate the
trend
Inappropriate format: remember to separate opening and body by jumping to the
next row and make the beginning letter of the sentence to be in capital.
Level: 5.0 to 6.0
Given is the line graph illustrating the US energy consumption by fuel from 1980 to
2030. The figures show an unstable using rate but overall, there is a marked increase in
the US energy consumption.
In the first period, from 1980 to 1985, it is obvious from the given information that in
1980, Petrol and Gas was the most popular type of energy with 35 Quadrillion units
while natural gas, coal and hydro power account for 20,15 and 4 quadrillion units
respectively. On the contrary, nuclear power and solar wind energy were not used at that
time.
The second period witnessed some dramatically changes in energy using rate. Although
it fluctuated for a couple of years, the consumption rate of petro and oil has climbed
steadily since 1985. Changes of natural gas and coal are clear in 2015. As people started
using more coal, the consumption rate jumps. However, natural gas using rate remains
stable from 2015.
Nuclear power were introduced in 1985 since then, the implement of it has spread in a
wide range. As a result, its consumption level has not stop rising ever since. Solar wind
and Hydro power are in the same situation too.
In conclusion, as human technology depends largely on sources of power, US energy
consumption by fuel will be unlikely to drop in the future.
(222 words)
Remark
Good points:
The writer know how to write opening:
Academic opening (red): good structure Given is/are + (name of the
chart) + V-ing (function) + Object + Place/Time
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Global Manpower International English

IELTS Writing Task 1

Presents an overview with information appropriately selected (yellow)

Body: Use a mix of simple and complex sentence: (orange)
Good structure of IELTS writing: Appropriate format with 3 parts: opening, body,
conclusion
Acceptable amount of vocabulary and structure
Sufficient amount of words required (>150 words)
Transitional words: (green) the writing ideas are connected and easy for readers
to follow

Improvement:
Comparison: the writing quite lack of comparison structure
There are some mistakes in grammar and language used, in fact, it is acceptable to
get a mistake but you should limit the number of committing in order not to be
reduced the mark: (Blue)
+ tobe: were was
Above 6.5
The graph shows consumption of energy in the U.S. since 1980 with projections through
2030.
The historical trends showed Petrol and Oil as the major sources of fuel, rising from 35
quadrillion (35q) units used in 1980 to 42q in 2012. Despite some fluctuation between
1980 and 1995, there was a steady increase, which is expected to continue, reaching 47q
in 2030.
Consumption of energy from natural gas and coal followed a similar pattern over the
period. From 20q and 15q respectively in 1980, gas showed an initial fall and coal saw a
gradual increase, with the two fuels equal between 1985 and 1990. Consumption has
fluctuated since 1990 but both now provide 24q. Coal consumption is projected to rise to
31q in 2030, whereas after 2014, natural gas is forecast to remain stable at 25q.
In 1980, in the group of renewable source, energy from solar/wind, nuclear, and
hydropower were the least-used, with only 4q. Nuclear has risen by 3q, and solar/wind
by 2. Since 2005, hydropower has fallen back to the 1980 figure. It is expected to remain
approximately constant through 2030, while the others are projected to rise gradually
after 2025.
Overall, fossil fuels are predicted to remain the chief energy source for the US, with a
little bit of hydroelectric, nuclear and a smidgen of renewable sources like wind and
solar.
(215 words)
Good points:
Academic opening (red)

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Global Manpower International English

IELTS Writing Task 1

Presents an overview with information appropriately selected (yellow), in this

case, it is not in the position of opening but the conclusion. It is acceptable in
writing task 1 IELTS
Appropriate format with 3 parts: opening, body, conclusion
Use comparison sentence: (orange)
Transitional words: (green) the writing ideas are connected and easy for readers
to follow
The writer knows how to divide the lines into layers to analyze: the two higher
should be come together and the remaining others are in the same group. It is
easier to see the relationship in the figures of two layers and the relationship
among lines in each layer:
Layer 1: petrol and oil
Layer 2: gas, coal
Layer 3: nuclear, solar, hydroenergy.
Improvement:
The writer may use wider range of other uncommon vocabulary and transitional
words to raise the score
It is acceptable to get a mistake but you should limit the number of
committing in order not to be reduced the mark

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