IELTS WRITING TASK1

EVALUATION

 Grammatical range and accuracy – 25%

 Vocabulary range and accuracy – 25%
 Coherence and Cohesion – 25%
 Task Achievement – 25%

HOW TO ORGANISE?

Paragraph 1: Introduce the visuals (1-2 sentences

REWRITE THE RUBRIC IN YOUR

OWN WORDS
Paragraph 2 Summarize the visuals

WRITE THE MOST STRIKING

FEATURES WITHOUT GIVING DATA
Paragraphs 3 and 4 Use data/details to highlight a key
feature of the visual(s).

pie chart gives information about/on

 bar graph provides
given shows
line graph data about/on
supplied table illustrates
resented process represents information on
diagram highlights
provided
map
depicts
HOW TO WRITE INTRODUCTION

1. Change introductory expressions

 Examples:

o “The pie charts provide information on the proportion of males and females working in agricultural sector.”
OR “The pie charts show the proportion of males and females working in agricultural sector.”
o “The table compares five companies in terms of the number of employees.” OR “The table illustrates the
number of employees in five companies.”

2. Paraphrasing
You can rewrite a phrase by using the word how:

o shows the number of people ... = shows how many people ...
o depicts changes in spending on ... = depicts how much changed spending on ...

You can rewrite a phrase by using synonyms:

o number of = quantity of (not interchangeable with amount of)

o spending = expenditure
o rate = percentage
o ratio = proportion
o information = data
o change can be sometimes replaced by increase, decrease or variation
o share = portion
o place = site
3. Time periods
o from 1985 to 1995 = between 1985 and 1995
o in 1985 = in the year 1985
o in 1985 and 1995 = in 1985 and 1995 respectively = in the years 1985 and 1995

Examples:

o The table shows consumption rates from 2001 to 2004.

o The graph shows consumption rates in 2012 and 2015 respectively.
Paraphrasing in use:

See how the topic was paraphrased to make a very good task 1 introduction
 What was changed:

 Show is changed to compare

 Percentages added
 Different added
 In 2007 and 2009 → In the years 2007 and 2009

As you see, you don't have to make up a completely new introduction. Just take the given topic as a base, and
change/add some details.

Introductory phrases:
 The graph/table shows/indicates/illustrates/reveals/represents…
 The graph/table gives information about/on
 The graph/table provides information about/on


 It is clear from the graph/table…

 It can be seen from the graph/table…
 As the graph/table shows,…
 As can be seen from the graph/table,…
 As is shown by the graph/table,…
 As is illustrated by the graph/table,…
 From the graph/table it is clear….

Summarising
IELTS writing task 1 is essentially a summarising task. Your overview paragraph should contain two or three sentences
summarising the main features of the graph. In order to help you do this, here are some short phrases.

 To summarise, the most marked change is….

 Overall, it is clear….

 Overall, the majority/minority….

  In sum, the most noticeable trend is….

Don’t say ‘to conclude’. This is only for discursive essays.

Tenses
Using the appropriate tenses in IELTS writing task 1 is essential if you want to get a high band score.

The key is to look at the title of the chart and the information contained on both axes to establish what time frame is used.
This will help you establish what tense you should use.

Example:

 If the time is one point in the past, for example January 1990, then we should use the past tense.

 If it has projections for the future, for example 2045, we use future tenses.

 It there is no time, we use present simple.

Below are a range of tenses that could be used in task 1. Remember, the tense you use will depend on the information
displayed in the graph. This is not a complete list of tenses and an awareness of all the English tenses will help you achieve
the IELTS score you need.

1. Present Perfect:
We use this tense generally to talk about an action that happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time period is
not important.

In writing task 1, we use this tense to talk about changes in data that have happened over a period of time.

Example

The price of oil has fallen by $5 a barrel every week since July.

2. Present Perfect Continuous

We use this tense to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now.

Example

Oil prices have been decreasing since July.

3. Future Perfect

We use this tense to state that something will be finished by a particular time in the future.

We often use it with ‘by’ or ‘in’.

Example

The price of oil will have reached $300 a barrel by 2024.

 4. Past Simple

Use this tense to talk about an action that started and finished at a specific time in the past.

Example

The price of oil fell from $150 in Jan 2011 to $50 in Jan 2010.

The table shows the change in the number of Japanese visitors to other countries over 11 months of 2005 and 2006.