IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 (20 minutes)

Overview

 30% of the total writing score.

 You are to deal with Diagrams, Tables, Flowcharts, and Pictures.
 Ideal word amount = 150 – 170 words, 2 – 3 paragraphs only.
 Do not indent your writing. Uses justify style.
 It has no intro but it has Initiation. Conclusions are optional.

Pre-writing steps:

1. Initiation, paraphrasing the general instructions.

2. Reading and interpreting the Graph + making approximations.
3. Order deciding (if necessary, from strongest to the weakest or vice versa).

Tips and Tricks

a) Paraphrase as many words as possible in then initiation part.

b) Avoid repetition at all cost.
c) Do not misinterpret the graph
d) Always describe the numbers.
e) Do not use personal approach (“I find it interesting that….”)
f) Be consistent with one tense (Simple Present/Simple Past)
g) Use advanced vocabularies, e.g. shows displays/represents/illustrates.
h) Numbers should be written as numbers.

Expressions you can use:

 “It is evident from the graph that …”

 “The diagram shows/proves that …”
 “With 78% of workers who approve the incentive raise …”
 “A and B are the categories which attract the least customers as only around 34% of …..”
 “The data show that …”
 “From the category …”
 “There is a difference between …”
 “The number gradually / suddenly / dramatically differs / increases / inclines / rises …”