IELTS WRITING TASK 1

Assessment Criteria

▪ Task Achievement

▪ Coherence and Cohesion

▪ Lexical Resource

▪ Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Question Types

▪ Dynamic charts 🡪 Describing trends/changes; for example: line graph, bar graph, pie chart,

and table

▪ Static charts 🡪 Describing data comparisons; for example: bar chart, pie chart, and table

▪ Process diagrams 🡪 Describing how something works or how to produce something

▪ Maps

▪ Objects

How to Organise Your Writing Task 1

Paragraph 1:
(An) Introductory sentence(s) 🡪 overview of what the graph is about

Paragraph 2:
Summary 🡪 general trends (without any figures)

Paragraph 3-4:
Details 🡪 specific trends (figures/statistics included)
Describing Dynamic charts
Language of trends (1)

A. Decide whether the phrases below mean an upward, downward, or even trend!

a fall to increase to remain steady to decline a drop

to decrease a rise to climb to deteriorate a plateau

to level off to plummet to plunge to recover to improve

1 2 3

B. The adjectives and adverbs below describe the amount or degree of change. Put the
words in the correct column! Some can go in more than one column.

rapidly moderately sharp significant

gradual rapid marginal gradually

sharply marked significantly dramatic

marginally moderate dramatically abrupt

slightly abruptly slight markedly

 Adjectives Adverbs

a b c d e f

C. Match a set of definitions with a graph!

A B C

D E F

G H I

J K L

N
The description Graph No The description Graph
o

1 The figure fluctuated. 7 The figure fell dramatically.

There were fluctuations in the figure. There was a dramatic fall in the figure.

The figure was erratic. The figure plunged.

2 The figure reached a peak. 8 The figure recovered dramatically.

The figure peaked. There was an abrupt rise in the figure.

The figure soared.

3 The figure reached a plateau. 9 There was a slight decrease in the figure.

The figure leveled off. There was a slight fall in the figure.

The figure fell slightly.

4 The figure remained constant. 10 There was a slight increase in the figure.

There was a slight rise in the figure.

The figure rose slightly.

5 There was an upward trend in the figure. 11 There was a steady decline in the figure.

Overall, the figure increased. The figure declined steadily.

There was a moderate decline in the figure.

6 There was a downward trend in the figure. 12 There was a steady recovery in the figure.

Overall, the figure decreased. The figure recovered steadily.

There was a moderate increase in the

figure.

Language of trends (2)

Sentence Pattern Exercise

Examples

Pattern 1: The consumption of chocolate fell steadily. (verb + adverb)

Pattern 2: There was a steady fall in the consumption of chocolate. (there was a + adjective + noun)

Pattern 2: There has been a dramatic rise in the production of films. (there has been a + adjective + noun)

Pattern 1: The production of films has risen dramatically. (verb + adverb)

Complete the sentences by changing from Pattern 1 to Pattern 2 OR vice versa!

a. Spice exports from Africa fluctuated wildly over the period.

There were ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
 b. The development of new products fell gradually.
There was ………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
c. There has been a noticeable decrease in research investment.
Research ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
d. The purchases of tickets dropped significantly last month.
There was ………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
e. On the internet, the number of sites rose significantly.
There was ………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
f. There was a sudden decrease in the sale of mangos.
The sale ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
g. At the theme park, there were very slight fluctuations in the number of visitors.
The number ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
h. There was a gradual decline in sugar imports.
Sugar ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
i. The quality of food in supermarkets has increased slowly.
There has …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
j. The number of air travelers fluctuated remarkably.
There ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Language of trends (3)

Summary of Sentence Patterns

1. Subject (event) + Verb + Adverb + Complement

Examples:

● The number of tourists to Leeds Castle increased dramatically in 1999.

● Over the 1980s eagle numbers declined marginally.

● Compared to bread products, consumption of breakfast cereals jumped suddenly.

 2. There + be + a/an + Adjective + Noun + in + event + Complement

Examples: (Fill in the blanks based on the examples from Pattern 1)

● There was a dramatic increase in the number of tourists to Leeds Castle in 1999.

● ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

● ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Subject (event) + see/experience/enjoy/suffer + a/an + Adjective + Noun +

Complement

Examples: (Fill in the blanks based on the examples from Pattern 1)

● The number of tourists to Leeds Castle saw a dramatic increase in 1999.

● …………………………………………………………………………………...............................

● …………………………………………………………………………………...............................

Error Correction Exercise

1. Sales of chicken burgers dramatic increase over the period.

2. There was a significantly increase in the population.

3. Consumption of diesel considerably rose until the end of the period.

4. Figure plummeted slightly in 1999.

5. The number of licensed taxis rocketed dramatically from the beginning.

6. There was significant increase in the population of Grantbishopston.

7. Sales of I-pods rose significant immediately after their release.

8. X-boxes experienced a rapid grow from the beginning of November.

9. Figures saw a remain constant over the whole period.

10. Enrolment figures for West London College hit a peak in 2005.

11. There was a slow fluctuation in the number of burglaries in the south-east.

12. There was a slightly fluctuation in the number of burglaries.

13. Rainfall sees wildly fluctuation each year in Bundaland.

14. Teddy bear sales remained significantly constant over the whole period.

15. Employment figures dived immediately after the war.