In this lesson we’re going to learn how to tackle bar charts in IELTS Writing

task 1 questions to get the highest score. To get a band 9 in IELTS Writing
task 1, you should follow this answer structure:

1. Introduction
2. General overview
3. Specific features

Let’s look in detail how to apply this structure to an IELTS bar chart question.

IELTS bar chart Question:

The bar chart shows the divorce rates in two European countries from 2011 to 2015.

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

ELTS bar chart answering strategy:

1. Introduction

You should start your answer by writing an introduction. The introduction

is 1 or 2 sentences, where you paraphrase the information from your question.
You should mention two things in your introduction:
 4. what your graph shows
5. for what period of time

In our example, the introduction can look like this:

The bar chart provides information about the percentages of divorces in

Finland and Sweden between 2011 and 2015.

See how I used synonyms to paraphrase the question:

shows → provides information about

divorce rates → percentages of divorces
two European countries → Finland and Sweden (it’s good to be more
specific)
from 2011 to 2015 → between 2011 and 2015.

2. General Overview

The second paragraph of your answer is a general overview, where you

briefly describe major trends on your graph. Ideally, you should describe 2-4
key features.

To make major trends easier to notice, you can outline Sweden’s bars and
Finland’s bars like this:
Now it’s obvious that:

▪ Sweden experienced a downward trend

▪ Finland experienced an upward trend
▪ both countries showed fluctuations
▪ Initially Finland had a lower rate, but in 2015 Finland outraced Sweden

Use word overall to start your general overview. In our case, the overview may
look as follows:

Overall, Sweden experienced a downward trend, while Finland showed an

upward trend throughout the period. Both countries’ divorce rates had some
fluctuations. Although Finland initially had a lower rate, it outraced Sweden at
the end of the period.

3. Specific details

After we’ve written the introduction and general overview, it’s time to
give the specific details. You should describe the specific features in 2 or 3
(sometimes more) paragraphs.

You can group data in such way:

 1. Details about Sweden
2. Details about Finland

When you have two countries (or two cities or any other two things depicted on
the graph), the simplest way of grouping data - is to describe each country’s
trend in a separate paragraph.

When giving specific features, you have to write exact

numbers/percentages and include as much details as you can.

In our case, the specific details may look as follows:

Sweden’s divorce rate was about 45% in 2011, being higher than Finland’s
rate by approximately 8%. Then, it rose to almost fifty percent in 2012.
However, the figure showed a gradual decrease to about 47% in 2013, and
continued to decline steadily to the end of the period, reaching around 45%
in 2014 and hitting a low-point of about 37% in 2015.

Percentage of divorces in Finland was less than 40% in 2011, and it

decreased in 2012, when about one third of marriages in Finland ended with
a divorce (as opposed to almost a half in Sweden). However, the figure
experienced a steady growth during the next two years. It rose to
approximately 39% in 2013, then increased by around 3% in 2014, and
remained steady for the next year, outracing the rate of Sweden.

Tips:

1. When analyzing a bar-chart, we cannot always give exact details (due to

inaccuracies of the chart), so use
words around, about and approximately when giving inexact data.
2. Give data for each year shown on the chart

The full answer + Practice

It’s the end, we have finally written the answer for IELTS bar chart question.
And now, let’s practice: fill in the gaps in this answer with appropriate
words.

The provides about the percentages of divorces in Finland

and Sweden between 2011 and 2015.
 , Sweden experienced a downward trend, while Finland showed
an trend throughout the period. Both countries’ divorce rates had
some fluctuations. Although Finland initially had a lower rate,
it Sweden at the end of the period.

Sweden’s divorce rate was about 45% in 2011, being higher than Finland’s
rate by approximately 8%. Then, it rose to fifty percent in 2012.
However, the figure showed a gradual decrease to about 47% in 2013, and
continued to decline steadily to the end of the period, reaching around 45%
in 2014 and hitting a of about 37% in 2015.

Percentage of divorces in Finland was than 40% in 2011, and it

decreased in 2012, when about one third of marriages in Finland ended with
a divorce (as to almost a half in Sweden). However, the figure
experienced a steady growth during the next two years. It rose to
approximately 39% in 2013, then increased by around 3% in 2014, and
remained steady for the next year, outracing the rate of Sweden.

(190 words)

PROCESS DIAGRAM

in this lesson you will learn how to describe a diagram in IELTS Writing task
1.

We will deal with a process diagram. Although diagrams are not very common
in IELTS, they do appear in Writing and are very different from other types of
graphs you can get. So it's a good idea to learn how to structure your answer
when describing a diagram.

In this lesson you will:

▪ See IELTS Writing digram question

▪ Learn how to write a band 9 answer
▪ Learn useful vocabulary
▪ See video tutorial

As an example, let's take a look at the following question card:

The diagram illustrates how steel rods are manufactured in the furniture industry.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

You can watch a video tutorial on how to describe diagrams in IELTS Academic
Writing task 1:

As it was explained the previous lesson, to get the highest score for the first
task in IELTS Writing, your answer should have the following structure:

3. Introduction
4. General overview
5. Specific features

Now we'll take a look at each part of the answer.

1. Introduction

The first paragraph of your answer should be an introduction. For the

introduction, you need to paraphrase the topic in your own words. It
shouldn't be longer that 2 sentences.

And this is a possible way to write your introduction:

The diagram explains the way in which steel rods are produced for the furniture
industry.

You could also write the introduction in another way:

The diagram shows the process of metal rods production for the furniture
industry.

In fact, there are plenty of ways to write your introduction. Just keep in mind
that you should use synonyms and paraphrase the topic from your question
card.

2. Overview

After the introduction, you should give a general overview to summarize

what’s going on in the diagram. Unlike line graphs, pie charts and bar charts,
diagrams have no general trends or key changes to identify. So, in the overview
paragraph you need to write:

3. how the process begins and ends

4. the number of stages

If the diagram has loops or repeating stages, or your process is cyclic - write
that in your overview too!

Here is a good way to write a general overview:

Overall, the process consists of eleven stages, beginning with the raw
material and ending up with the product’s inspection.

Always use word overall to start your overview. This way you will indicate the
examiner that you’re describing general trends.
3. Specific features

After you've given the overview, you should write about specific details of your
diagram. To do that, you need to describe each stage of your process in detail.
Don't forget that you should provide information in a logical way!

This is a possible way of describing the specific features of our diagram:

First of all, iron ore, yellow ore and carbon are collected to serve as a raw
material for steel rods manufacturing. After that, the raw material is melted in a
melting slit, where it is heated to a temperature in range of 1300-1500 °C. The
melted mass is then transferred to a smelting cabin to undergo refinement.
Next, the candescent metal is put in a pouring machine and poured into ingots.

In the next stage, the ingots are connected to a cooling reservoir, where the
temperature falls to 60-100 °C. Metal goes through special nozzles and cools
down, forming strands. Following this, the metal strands proceed to rollers that
change their shape. Next, the products are put into a heating machine, where
they undergo heat treatment. Subsequently, a measuring automaton completes
a surface check of the products.

After that, the metal rods are sized by special cutters and get ID stamping.
Finally, the products undergo inspection and are ready for use.

Using connectors

Process is a series of changes that happen over time. That's why time
connectors are extremely important for writing about process diagrams. Use
these time connectors to describe specific features of your diagram:

• first of all
• firstly
• to begin
• after that
• then
• next
• in the next stage
• following this
• subsequently
• finally

Using additional information

Your diagram will often provide you some additional information and hints for
most stages of the process. Make sure that you use all that information while
describing specific features of your diagram!

However, sometimes you may see that some stage lacks information for
description. For example, we only know that the third stage of our process is
called refinement and it happens in a smelting cabin. But we don't know what
exactly happens during this stage.

In this case, you can use a verb to undergo. To undergo = to experience. For
example, you can write: "the material undergoes refinement in a smelting
cabin"

PIE chart

IELTS writing task 1: describing a pie chart

In this lesson we're going to learn how to effectively describe a pie
chart in IELTS Writing task 1. To get a band 9 for your answer, you
should follow this answer structure:

6. Introduction
7. General overview
8. Specific features

Let's look in detail how to apply this structure to answer IELTS pie chart
question.

IELTS pie chart Question:

The two pie charts below show the percentages of industry sectors' contribution to
the economy of Turkey in 2000 and 2016.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.
You can watch a video tutorial on how to describe pie charts in IELTS Academic
Writing task 1:

And now let's learn how to describe IELTS pie charts by doing this example.

IELTS pie chart answering strategy:

1. Introduction

The first paragraph you write is an introduction. The introduction is 1 or 2

sentences, where you introduce your chart. In the introduction you have
to paraphrase the information from your question and mention 2 important
things:

▪ what your graph shows

▪ for what period of time

In our example, I wrote the introduction this way:

The two pie charts illustrate how different industry sectors contributed to the
economy of Turkey percentagewise in the years 2000 and 2016.
So, I just took the information from the question card and paraphrased it in
such way:

show → illustrate
the percentages of industry sectors' contribution to the economy of
Turkey → how different industry sectors contributed to the economy of
Turkey percentagewise
in 2000 and 2016 → in the years 2000 and 2016.
pie charts = pie charts (don't change this!)

2. General Overview

The second paragraph of your answer is a general overview, where you briefly
describe 2-4 key features of your chart.

In our case there are two main options to describe key features:

6. find the biggest and smallest slices of each pie chart

7. find which slices became bigger/smaller or didn't change

Each option is fine, but don't write both of them because you have to keep your
overview short. I have chosen then first option. Let's look again at our pie
charts and identify the biggest/smallest slices:

Now include the information you've gathered from the chart into your overview.
Always start your general overview with the word overall:

Overall, at the beginning of the period construction contributed the least to

the economy of Turkey and agriculture was the most significant economic
 sector. In comparison, at the end of the period healthcare and education
became the largest economic segment and the lowest contribution was made
by financial, business and other services.

3. Specific details

The last part of your answer is specific details. You should group the specific
details of your chart in 2 or 3 paragraphs.

You can group data in such way:

5. Sectors that had an increase (construction; trade utilities &

transportation; manufacturing; finance, business and other services)
6. Sectors that had a decrease or didn't change (agriculture; government;
leisure and hospitality; healthcare and education)

In our case, paragraphs with specific details may look as follows:

Construction sector accounted for 3% of Turkey's economy in 2000, and

experienced a more than threefold increase to one-tenth in 2016. Economic
income from trade, utilities and transportation was 14% in 2000 and
experienced a slight growth of 2% in 2016. At the beginning of the period,
manufacturing and finance, business and other services made up 8% and 5%
of Turkey's economy, respectively, and these figures rose to 12% and 8% in
2016.

Agriculture, which comprised almost a quarter of Turkey's economy in 2000,

fell to 14% in 2016. In 2000 economic outputs from government and leisure
and hospitality sectors were at 12% and 17%, respectively, and both
decreased by 3% after 16-year period. In contrast, contribution from
healthcare and education sector remained constant in both years at 17%.

Useful vocabulary to write a percentage of a certain sector::

• sector X was 3%
• sector X made up 3%
• sector X accounted for 3%
• sector X comprised 3% of [the whole chart]
The full answer + Practice

It's the end, we have finally written the answer for IELTS bar chart question.
And now, let's practice: fill in the gaps in this answer with appropriate words.

The two illustrate how different industry sectors contributed to the

economy of Turkey percentagewise in the years 2000 and 2016.

, at the beginning of the period construction contributed the least to

the economy of Turkey and agriculture was the most significant economic
sector. In , at the end of the period healthcare and education
became the largest economic segment and the lowest contribution was made
by financial, business and other services.

Construction sector accounted for 3% of Turkey's economy in 2000, and

experienced a more than increase to one-tenth in 2016. Economic
income from trade, utilities and transportation was 14% in 2000 and
experienced a slight of 2% in 2016. At the beginning of the period,
manufacturing and finance, business and other services made up 8% and 5%
of Turkey's economy, respectively, and these figures rose to 12% and 8% in
2016.

Agriculture, which almost a quarter of Turkey's economy in 2000,

fell to 14% in 2016. In 2000 economic outputs from government and leisure
and hospitality sectors were at 12% and 17%, , and both decreased
by 3% after 16-year period. In contrast, contribution from healthcare and
education sector remained in both years at 17%.

(203 words)