Ielts task 1:

Introduction

1. Paraphrasing the question by indicating:

- What the visual is about
- The time period
- Countries
- Other names that appear in the visual
- Paraphrase the question prompt. Use synonyms and phrases for non-key information

Example: The pie charts below show the amount of money that a children’s charity located in the
USA spent and received in one year, 2016

the charts give information about the amount of revenue and expenditures in 2016 for a children’s
charity in the USA

time expressions:

between 2004 and 2007 -> over the period from 2004 to 2007, from 2004 to 2007, the 2004 to 2007
1996 period saw a sharp drop

throughout the whole period

between January and March

in 1995,

over a 5-hour period

from that point, the sales

over the following/ next six days

important transitions:

shows -> illustrate, gives/provides information about/on , displays, represents, depicts, compares,
describes

proportion -> percentage, number of, ratio, fraction

pupils -> school children,

unemployed -> people who are employed

1970-2000 -> over three decades from 1970 to 2000, over a thirty-year period from 1970 to 2000

1915-2015 -> over a century from 1915 to 2015

Data -> information

Traffic= the number of vehicles on the road

Increased from – to - = increased by 15%

DO DON’T
Introduce all charts, diagrams or tables. Present irrelevant information (E.g. the x-axis,
the y-axis, the grey line represents female
 unemployment, the black triangle is males)

If given two types of charts:

The pie charts show the main energy resources used to generate power in a town in Australia, while
the table shows how much energy was consumed by the community in 1989.

2. Second sentence: writing overview

Band 7: present a clear overview of the main trends, differences or stages
Band 6: present an overview with information appropriately selected
- A clear summary of what’s in the visual:
 Trends
 Changes
 Developments
 Stages
 Noticeable features
- No details (no data) just an overview

Example: 1- overall decrease/ increase or fluctuation, high or low or stable points

Table:

Increase/ decrease/ stable/…..

Overall, it can be clearly seen that the numbers of people employed have increased over the period,
whereas the unemployed figures have remained stable.

chart:

which section of the chart was the leader, followed by who?

In brief, Germany was the major producer of vehicles over this period followed by France and
Norway.

Diagram:

The number of stages and then specify the stages

# Main stages to

It can be seen that there are four main stages to car manufacturing. To be specific, these are
moulding, machining, joining and shearing.

Process:

# of steps then you can mention the steps or say the first and last one

It can clearly be seen that there are six steps involved in the production of cloth starting with the raw
materials and ending with the final product.

Map:

Transformations and main features

“The maps illustrate changes in an English village over a century from 1915 to 2015.
In summary, in one hundred years, the village has experienced major changes transforming it from
a small farming village to an industrial town.”

Charts:

“Overall, by looking at the charts it can be seen that oil is used the most as an energy source in this
town and that most power is required for domestic cooling.”

Keywords:

Overall= to summarise= in brief= in summary

Whereas= while

DO DON’T
Use linking words “overall, to summarise, in Include data or details
summary”
Summarize the trends Highlight key features with data
Highlight any change in the overall trend (sudden
decrease)
3. Key features

Visual For a band 7 Key features

Graph showing 5 age groups
over 2 years
Use data supporting EACH 5 age groups
key feature Major trends
Noticeable data that stand Highs, lows, stable, etc
out (fluctuations, highest, Two years
lowest, unusual data, stable)

Pie chart showing 5 types of fuel 5 different types

Map showing a town 50 years
ago and a town now
Process showing 7 stages
Chart showing three products
over three years
Name of buidings
Name of pathways, bridges,
roads
NEW, CHANGED AND
UNCHANGED things
EACH stage in the process
Any extra step that is part of
the process
The materials or equipment
used in the process
Major fuel type
2 maps
Things that have remained the
same
Things that have changed (exp:
renovation, removal,…)
Things that are new
Each of the 7 stages
Any extra step that is part of the
process
Three products
Three years
Noticeable numbers (highest,
lowest, stable, unusual trend)

Band 7:

- Use data supporting EACH key feature

- Describe EVERY key feature
- Noticeable data that stand out (fluctuations, highest, lowest, unusual data, stable)
Don’t:

- Don’t Describe details:

It went up by 2% and then dropped to 5% and then rose again to 2% and again dropped by 5%

It fluctuated between 5% and 2% for the first quarter of the year

- Don’t add or subtract or use average, present the data as given

Vocabulary

For increase and decrease:

Adjectives:

Gradual

Moderate: not violent, severe, or intense

Modest: not very large in size or amount

Slight

Dramatic

Steep

Steady

Significant

Considerable

rapid

Nouns:

Variation, decline, fall, peak, fluctuation, increase, growth, rise, decrease

Verbs:

Rise, increase, fall, grow, jump, climb, drop, decline, go down

Adverbs:

Gradually, steadily, slowly, rapidly, moderately, slightly, significantly

Significantly = sharply
Other vocab:

Opposite
Similarly,= likewise In contrast to = unlike = whereas
Overall In detail
Fluctuate To level off = remail unchanged
To reach a peak at = to hit a high of To hit a low of

To experience a marked increase in

To see/ witness an upward/ downward trend

The figures increased gradually

To be ahead of others

Percentages:

Three quarters = 75% (approximately, nearly, almost three quarters)

Just over/under a half/ a quarter

A tiny fraction = 1%, 3%, ….

A large proportion (77%)

A significant majority (71%)

An insignificant minority (3%)

A small proportion (15%)

One-third of this article is -> singular noun

All the information is

One third of the students are ->plural noun

All of the computers are

For future predictions: estimate, predict, forecast
The two pie charts demonstrate the employment pattern in the UK in 1998 and 2012. Overall it can
be seen that unemployment in the UK has decreased in 2012 compared with 1988 as the number of
employed people men and women in 1988 was 23,839 was 23,839 in 1988 and grew to 29,600 in
2012 due to the number of women taking full-time jobs. (Being specific)

People is too general, can be adults or young people while in the chart it’s specified for men and
women

I should add all the main info (UK and dates)

Avoid using “I” and “we”, instead use passive

Look for (peaks, troughs, steady “little or no change”, fluctuations)

When analyzing the graph:

- The time element, gap between years

- The starting and ending year
- The number of things being compared
For vocab: D- POSITIVE impact

Incident= accident

ASK:
Subtractions and additions

Look for:

Highs

Lows

Anomalies

Similarities

Differences

Splitting up paragraphs for tables:

1. Lateral, each category alone

 2. By continent

North American (first 2) European countries (last 3)

3. By highs and lows and differences

4. Cinema highest in all countries, museum galleries lowest in north American and sports
lowest in European
5. Performing arts are very similar numbers across all countries, as well as sports