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TYPES OF GRAPHS THAT CAN COME IN THE IELTS ACADEMIC TEST

1. Line graph
2. Bar chart – OR – column graph
3. Pie chart
4. Table
5. Multiple charts
6. Process or cycle
7. Describing objects
8. Map

Now, this number seems big but fortunately the vocabulary you need to learn falls in
only three categories

1. Line graph vocabulary also called the time graph vocabulary

2. Percentage vocabulary
3. Process vocabulary
4. Maps vocabulary

Part 1 of the academic writing module is an easily passed part of the test with a little
practice. Although the data presented in the questions for part 1 are always different,
they all follow a similar pattern and so it should be easy to provide an impressive
answer which can get you a high band score.
It is important to remember that you have only one hour for the writing test and so you
should not waste more than 20 minutes for the task 1 as it is worth 33% of the marks
available for writing. Another thing to remember is that the minimum word count is 150
so in no case the answer should be under length.

How to write a graph

The Introduction:
You need only one or two sentences describing the following:
The type of graph you are describing, the title of the graph, date of the graph and scale.
You need not have all these information but you should report what you have.
The Body:
What you need to do is to describe factually the graph. No specialized knowledge of
your own is needed nor your opinion.
You don’t need to analyze the data, for example you need not give the reason for why
figures are high or low. Sometimes, when there is more than one graph, there is
relationship between the two, and you can bring in the some comparison between them
but going beyond this is not necessary.
The Ending:
You need not write a long and analytical conclusion. The introduction and the ending
should be more or less the same. All you need is to write: This is my report.
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The line or time graph vocabulary

All graphs which show changes over time – whether they are line graphs or bar graphs or a table need
this vocabulary. All line graphs are time graphs but all time graphs are not line graphs.
Useful language:
1. decreased
2. fell
Go down 3. dropped
4. declined
5. came down

1. increased
2. rose
Go up 3. climbed
4. grew
5. went up
6. escalated

1. remained stable
No change 2. leveled off
3. stabilized
4. remained the same

Fluctuation - fluctuated

Peaked at OR reached a high of

Dipped OR reached a low of

Small change
 slightly
 slowly
 minimally
Large change
 sharply
 rapidly
 dramatically
 significantly
 considerably
 substantially

Medium change - moderately

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Time phrases
It is important that you know how to use the common expressions of time.
Here are the common ones:
In: In 1999
In the 20th century
In the first ten years...
for : For the first six months...
For twenty years...
During: During the first six months...
During the first half of this century...
During the remainder of the year...
from - to / until: From September to/ until November...
From 2000 to 2005...
between —and: Between 1960 and 1970...
before / after: Before 1970 the number remained small but after 1975 there was a
sudden increase.
Around / about: Around / about 1980 there was a change in the number of ……….
By: By the late 19th century the …………….. had declined significantly
at: At the end of the last century there was a sharp increase in ……………
since: Since the 20th century there has been a steady decline.
Other useful expressions are:
(in) the period from……………. to………………
(in) the period between …………….. and …………………..
in the first/last three months of the year
over the period ………………..to……………………..
over the next years/ decades / quarter of a century etc.
over a ten year period
throughout the 19th century
from that time on
after that
then
in the 1980s
Note that you can refer to a decade as the 1980s etc. There is no apostrophe
Before the s.
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100

80

60
Units

40

20

0
January February March April
Sales of laptops 1995

Two sentences to remember

From January to February, sales increased slightly.
From January to February, there was a slight increase in sales.
The above two sentences are foolproof sentences to get your sentence structuring right
in the IELTS line graphs. Of course you must make these sentences longer by adding
data and also make changes to words like January according to your graph ( For e.g.
there may be years in the graph you get) but the basic structure of sentence remains
the same. When you use the adjective noun combination then the three words “there
was a” always precede the combination.
Talking about combinations – Only two types of word combinations can be used in
the time graphs – The adjective noun OR the verb adverb. You must learn the
relevant vocabulary by making a table like the one given below

Verb Adverb Adjective Noun

increased slightly slight increase
rose rapidly rapid rise
decreased moderately moderate decrease
grew substantially substantial growth
escalated sharply sharp escalation
dropped dramatically dramatic drop
climbed minimally minimal climb
Fell Slightly Slight Fall

Remained stable – there was a stability

Leveled off – there was a leveling off
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Using the right tenses.

It is important to select the correct tenses.
 For most graphs a specific time in the past will be given and you will need to use the past simple
tense. If two things took place at the same time, you may use the past continuous tense for one
of them. (While laptop sale was rising during this period, there was no change in cell phone
sale).
 If you use since or recently it means that you are referring to events that have come up to the
present. That means using the present perfect tense,
(The use of the internet has risen enormously since the 1990s)
 With ‘by’ you will often need to use the past perfect or the future perfect tense. (by the end of
the century the rate of urbanisation had doubled)
The percentage vocabulary
 This is important - You should not keep repeating the same structures. The key language of
percentage graphs is proportions and percentages.
Common phrases to see are "the proportion of…" or "the percentage of…"
This table presents some examples of how you can change percentages to fractions or ratios:
Percentage Fraction
80% four-fifths
75% three-quarters
50% half
25% a quarter
20% a fifth
10% one in ten
If the percentages are not exact as above, then you can use qualifiers to make sure
your description remains accurate. Here are some examples:
Percentage Qualifier
77% just over three quarters
77% approximately three quarters
49% just under a half
49% nearly a half
32% almost a third
This table presents some examples of how you can change percentages to other phrases:
proportion / number / amount /
Percentage
majority / minority
75% - 85% a very large majority
65% - 75% a significant proportion
10% - 15% a minority
5% a very small number
The words above are interchangeable, though number is for countable nouns and amount is
for uncountable nouns.

 How to incorporate data in the graph

There are two ways of incorporating data
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1. By using brackets - (…..)

2. By using a relative clause – which + is
makes up
constitutes
accounts for
Example sentences
White, which is 55%, is considerably more common than blue which makes up 20%.
Red, which constitutes 28% is almost twice as popular as blue which is 13.8%.
The other colours, which constitute 8% are considerably less popular than blue
(20%).

 Grouping information

When you write a task 1, you should always group information in a logical way to
make it easy to follow and read.
With an IELTS pie chart, the most logical thing to do is usually to compare categories
together across the charts, focusing on similarities and differences, rather than writing
about each chart separately.
If you write about each one separately, the person reading it will have to keep looking
between the paragraphs in order to see how each category differs.

The language of processes

The first step in learning to write about a process diagram is to see where the process
starts and ends. This is important information as it will help structure your writing. The
obvious thing to do is to start at the beginning and carry on until you get to the end.
Some of the most useful vocabulary for describing a process is the language of
sequencing. This means that you need to find language to say in what order each thing
happens. The key here is variation. Try not to use “and then” “and then” all the time.
Here are some alternatives –
 The first
 The second
 The next
 A further
 Eventually
 This step involves
 After this stage is complete
 At the same time / Meanwhile
 Finally

Passives
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When we describe an IELTS process, the focus is on the activities, NOT the person
doing them.
When this is the case, we use the passive voice, not the active.
This is a brief explanation of how to use the passive voice, but if you are new or unsure
about using it, you should do some further study and practice.
Most sentences use this structure:
Subject + Verb + Object
(S) Reeta (V) makes (O) tea.
When we use the passive voice, we make the object (tea) the subject, and make the
subject (Reeta) the object. We also add in the verb ‘to be’ and the past participle (or
Verb 3).
(O) Tea (be + V3) is made (S) by Reeta.
So throughout most of your description for your IELTS process diagram, you should be
using the passive voice.

 For the Maps

The knowledge of directions – north, east, south, west, northeast, southeast, northwest
and southwest is very essential.

Finally - Some Don’ts

 Don’t describe the X and Y axis. Give the information.
 Don’t write about everything on the graph. Pick the biggest, the smallest, the main
points, the main trends. Group similar things together
 Don’t write about the line or the bar: “The line went up,” “The bar went down.” Instead,
write about the idea. “The number of people going to work by bus increased gradually.”
“Oil production shot up in 1965″
 Make sure you write about the idea. Don’t use shorthand: “Men went up.” “Women went
down.” Instead, write about the real data: “The number of men doing part time jobs fell
dramatically,” “The percentage of female students getting a degree rose suddenly.”
 Don’t use “I feel”, “as I have written,” “as you can see,” etc. Keep it academic.
 Don’t start sentences with But, So, Also, And, For, Since, Because, Although

General format of writing the graph

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 Begin with an introductory statement, e.g. The table/graph/chart shows ………

 Don’t try to describe every detail. Look for significant features: the greatest
increase or decrease, the shortest time period, the overall trend, etc.
 Think about the clearest way to express figures, e.g. in percentages or
expressions like one in ten, etc. Don’t speculate about reasons for trends. Stick
to the facts.
 End with a comment on general trends: The figures for the period suggest that ...
 From this evidence we can conclude that .. .. etc.

USEFUL VOCABULARY

Describe a large change:

The most interesting growth occurred in the cities of Jakarta and Bombay.
The greatest change can be seen in the figures for the United States.

Describe the largest / smallest category:

Tokyo had by far the largest population in the year 1992.
The highest levels of smoking can be seen in Europe.
Levels of literacy were lowest in the African countries in the survey.

Increase
Last year, the number of burglaries increased by 15 percent.
The percentage of households with a computer increased from 32.9% to 52%.
The world's population is increasing at a rate of 91 million people each year.
Land prices have increased dramatically during the last thirty years. (=by a surprisingly
large amount)
The ratio of women to men in management positions has been increasing steadily.
(=more women are becoming managers)
To Increase = to rise / to expand/ to soar / to escalate
To double / to triple /to quadruple

Since 1990, U.S. imports of foreign goods have grown at a rate of 7.7 percent per year.
During the last 15 years, earnings have tripled for men and doubled for women.
After two years of no growth, the economy started to expand again in 2003.
Interest rates soared to over 100 percent.
Energy costs have escalated.

STUDY NOTE: Grammar

The -ing forms of many of these verbs can also be used as adjectives, for example:
the increasing demand for cheap goods
rising unemployment
the growing problem of industrial pollution
soaring inflation
escalating fuel costs
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Continue to add comments on the information in order of importance. Try to make

connections between the different parts of the chart.
USEFUL PHRASES

Contrast results:
This trend is reversed in the under 16 category.
While the number of male smokers has fallen, the number of female smokers has
remained stable.
There was a clear distinction between the answers given by men and women.

Find similarities:
There was a similar trend in the United States.
A similar pattern can be observed among the unemployed.
What you say when comparing things or people

compared to/with used when comparing things or people, especially when

comparing numbers or amounts:
This year's profits are much higher compared to last year's.
The average male now has a life expectancy of 77.6 years, compared with 75 in 1960.
Total spending on health care represents about 4 percent of GDP. Compared to most
other advanced economies, that figure is low.
Mortality rates are lower for women as compared with men.

by comparison/in comparison when compared with another thing, person etc:

Young male drivers have far more accidents by comparison with other groups.
Wages are low in comparison with the US.
The amount of money spent on advertising milk pales in comparison to (=is much less
than) the money spent on advertising beer.

as against/as opposed to conjunction used when you are comparing two figures
or pieces of information, in order to show how they are different:
The company achieved sales of $404 million, as against $310 million in the previous
year.
One study predicted that 42% of female university graduates would remain single the
rest of their lives, as opposed to just 5% of male graduates.

unlike preposition used when saying that people or things are different:
Unlike his brother, he had no interest in music.
The drug has very few side effects, unlike other drugs that are used to treat this illness.

in contrast/by contrast used when mentioning the difference between two things,
people, countries etc that you are comparing:
In contrast to the south of the island, the north is still untouched by tourism.
The US and Australia, in contrast with most other leading industrialized nations, chose
not to sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
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Studies show that each execution costs $3.5 million. By contrast it costs about
$600,000 to keep someone in prison for life.

in proportion to/in relation to used when considering the relationship between

the amount or size of something compared to another thing:
People from Sweden pay the highest rates of tax in proportion to their incomes.
His head is big in proportion to the rest of his body.
Britain's national debt was greater than that of the US in relation to the size of its
economy.

Ending your description

You should keep a general comment on the statistics for the last sentence. It is
important not to speculate about the information or make suggestions, unless you are
specifically asked to do so in the question.

USEFUL PHRASES
Conclude your findings:
Overall, there was a general rise in pollution in all three countries.
Finally, we can see that there were significant differences in the results for the
different socio-economic groups.

Describing percentages
Try to generalize about percentages, rather than repeat the exact figure that you are
given.
USEFUL PHRASES
Use fractions:
A third of the money was spent on entertainment.
Three quarters of the respondents stated that they were travelling for business
purposes.
The general construction for fractions is: a + third + of + the + plural verb.
For example: A quarter of the people had never smoked in their lives.

Half is an exception: a + half + of + the + singular verb, or half + the + singular verb.
For example: A half of the money was spent on food. =Half the money was spent on
food.

Use proportions:
Two out of three people felt that the government should be responsible, compared to
only one in four who felt that it was the responsibility of business and industry. (Instead
of two thirds or a quarter.)
If the first number is 1, use the preposition in. If the first number is higher than 1, use the
preposition out of. For example: One in three people would like to see the government
pay for higher education.
Three out of four people said that they had smoked at some time in their lives.
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Use general vocabulary to describe the size of something:

The majority of the people felt that it would have a negative influence.
A small minority claimed that they had seen no improvements.

Comparing between categories

You will often have to compare the results of two different categories in the statistical
information.
USEFUL PHRASES
Use a general comparative adjective + than:
The figures for France were significantly lower than the other three groups.
Levels of pollution were slightly better the following year.
We often use comparative adjective + than when the difference is small and must be
expressed as a percentage:
The amount was 50% lower than the previous year.
The numbers were only 20% higher than the results before the change.

Use as + adjective + as:

The figures were three times as high in France as in Germany.
The newer model was four times as popular as the older version.
as + adjective + as particularly useful for large changes expressed as multiples:
The figures were twice as high as the previous year.

Describing trends
Many factual descriptions require you to compare information over a period of time.
USEFUL PHRASES
Describe increases:
The number of people smoking more than ten cigarettes a day rose significantly in the
five year period.
Describe decreases:
There was a significant drop in the number of deaths caused by heart disease.
The number of people using public transport fell significantly between 1950 and 2005.

Describe future predictions:

The statistics predict an increase in the levels of pollution in these major cities in the
next five years.

Identifying categories
Introduce the category with the word number, amount, level, proportion, percentage,
rate, quantity
Use the + amount + of + uncountable noun + singular verb:
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air has increased.
Use the + number + of + plural noun + singular verb:
The number of people unemployed rose sharply.
Use the + level + of + noun + singular verb:
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The level of fast food consumption has risen.

Use the quantity of + (un)countable noun

The level of production = The rate of production

The level of expenditure = The rate of expenditure
The level of unemployment = The rate of unemployment
Level being represented by a bar graph / Level + rise
Rate being represented by a line graph / Rate + increase