You are probably quite used to getting information from charts and graphs in your daily life.
Data about many topics are often given in a visual format, for example weather patterns,
sales reports, or population statistics. The data could be given as a bar chart, or a pie
chart, a line graph, a table, a diagram, a flow chart, or a map.
We’ll look at these visuals one by one, and we’ll look closely to see what data
is being given. I will show you how to select the main features. Remember that you will
need to write 150 words for Task 1. So it is important to understand the information
given and make the right decision about what features to include in your writing.
This is an example of a bar chart. From the title, we can see that it’s about the age
that women got married for the first time.
It has two axes; the vertical axis which shows how many women per thousand got married; and
the horizontal axis, showing the age that these women got married for the first time.
The bars on the chart have three different colours. They represent the three years that
data is given on the age of a woman when she got married for the first time.
Now, let’s look at the data and find the main features. What we notice first is that
the tallest bars are in the 20-24 and the 25-29 age groups. This means that in each
of the three years, more women per thousand got married for the first time during their
20s.
Then we notice that the blue bar is the tallest for nearly all age groups. This means that
in 1970, more women per thousand got married for the first time in nearly all the age groups
than in 1921 or in 2000. It’s important to note that all three of the dates in the data
are in the past, so you should write using the past tense.
So that’s what a typical bar chart looks like. Now let’s look at a pie chart.
Again, we should look first at the title. 'Origins of English', this means where the English
language has come from.
It’s important to realise with a pie chart, that the whole pie represents 100% of something.
In this case, it is 100% of the English language. We can see that English has borrowed from
many other languages and also from names.
There are three large pieces and three smaller pieces. The size of each piece represents
the influence that each language or group of languages has had on English. Now let’s
identify the main features of the data. Most of the influence on the development of English
has come from three main sources: Latin, French and Germanic Languages, in approximately equal
parts.
The remaining 16% is sourced from Greek and other languages, and also from the names of
people and places.
Remember, pie charts give information about how a whole idea is divided into parts that
make up 100%. It's different with other visuals. The next one we’ll look at is the line graph
which is used to show changes over time.
Can you remember what we should do first? That’s right! We should look at the title.
It’s about the use of power in the UK. The word ‘domestic’ means that the data is
only about people’s homes.
Like the bar chart, this visual also has two axes. The vertical axis has the word 'gigawatts'
and some numbers. A gigawatt is a unit of power, and the numbers show how many units.
The horizontal axis has the word ‘time’ and numbers which represent a 24-hour clock,
with midnight at the beginning and again at the end of the axis, and midday in the middle.
Now let’s look at the two lines and think about what information they are telling us.
First, we should read what each of the lines represent. The blue one is about the demand
for power during the winter; while the red line is about power demand in the summer months.
We notice that the patterns of both the red and blue lines have roughly the same shape.
This means that the power demand during a 24 hour period increases and decreases at
about the same time of day during summer and winter. But, we can see that during summer,
people use less power at home than in winter. Another key feature of the data is that the
least amount of power is used early in the morning, while the highest demand for power
is in the early evening. Now, you might be tempted at this point to speculate as to the
reasons why this change has occurred, for example, people use heaters in the winter,
which use more power, but do not do this. In Task 1 of the IELTS Academic Writing Test
you are simply required to describe the data that is presented in the visual. The task
does not require you to give your opinions or to speculate about the data.
Next, we’ll look at a table. Can you remember what you should do first? Did you say look
for the title? I hope so!
And here it is. The table gives us information about the changes in transport use over time.
It gives us information for two years, 2004 and 2014, so we’re looking at the changes
that have occurred over a period of ten years. With this type of data, you would need to
use the past tense when you discuss the information, as these dates are in the past. Sometimes
you are given a date in the future, like 2050 for example, and you would need to use future
verb forms to discuss those figures.
Let’s look at the data now. First, I’ll read the information for 2004 and I notice
very quickly that cars, trucks, or vans are by far the most popular means of transport,
compared to the other forms mentioned. I also notice that, in 2014, they were still the
most popular type of transport, compared to the other forms in the table, although the
use of these vehicles has decreased slightly.
Another key feature that I notice is a change in the popularity of cycling and walking over
the ten year period. Whereas the use of cars, trucks and vans has declined, the percentage
of people riding a bicycle or walking to get around has gone up. This is a significant
change and is definitely worth noting. Remember, we should not make any comment about the reasons
why this change has occurred because no data about that is given in the table.
You probably noticed that tables contain a combination of words and numbers. In the next
type of visual, diagrams, you will see a combination of words and pictures. Remember to look at
the title first.
This diagram is showing us how electricity is produced from fossil fuel. It is usual
for diagrams to progress from left to right, or from top to bottom, so let’s look to
the left first.
On the left side, the diagram shows us the type of fossil fuel, in this case coal, and
its source. It also shows us that water from a river is also used by the power plant.
The middle of the diagram shows us how the coal is burned in the furnace to heat the
water and the steam that is produced is used to power the turbine.
And here on the right side of the diagram is the generator sending power through the
transformer and out to transmission lines.
This diagram shows how power is produced at any time, so you should use the present tense
to show general time.
The next type of visual we’ll look at is actually quite similar to the diagram. It’s
the flow chart. With this, we see the process of how something works or is produced, so
we can expect to see arrows as well as words and pictures.
The title here, shows us what the flow chart is about, the production of molten steel.
Maybe you don’t know the word ‘molten’, but this should not affect your ability to
write about the process. Actually, ‘molten’ describes steel in a hot, liquid form.
Again, we’ll start from the left of the flow chart and follow the arrows to the right
of the page. Here, we can see pictures of what is used in the production of the steel. We
can group these elements with the word ‘minerals’.
Next, we follow the arrows to the two furnaces, each of them taking different minerals.
And finally, the product is combined to make the molten steel.
As with the diagram we saw earlier about electricity, this flow chart describes a process that happens
in general time, so you would use the present tense to write about it.
You are probably very familiar with the last type of visual that you might be given in
Task 1 of the Writing Test. It’s a map. With this type of visual you need to describe
the location of places in relation to other places. This means you’ll use prepositions.
It’s worth pointing out that you may be given two maps to describe in this task. For
example, you might have to compare two maps of the same area, one from 1980 and one from
2010, and describe the changes that have occurred over that time.
The title for this map is Map of Port Hay. This gives us the name of the town.
In just 150 words, it would be impossible to describe everything you see in this map,
so you need to select the important features. First let’s look at the location of Port
Hay. We can see that it’s on the coast because it has a harbour.
Next, let’s focus on the transport infrastructure. We can see lines which represent roads and
railways. There are words to help us identify these.
Now let’s look at the other infrastructure in the town. The central business district
is on the harbour and is serviced by a train station. There is a mix of residential and
industrial development. People live here in the Housing Estate, near the river, and in
the high density apartments just north of the CBD. Near the Housing estate and the railway
line are the education and health facilities. There are also recreation facilities, with
the sports fields that you can see there. And next to the motorway is the industrial
area.
I have shown you some typical examples of the type of visuals you can expect in Task
1 of the Writing Test, and I’ve shown you how to select the most important features
to describe. There’s one more important thing I should tell you about Task 1. As I
mentioned earlier, when I was talking about maps, sometimes you will be given two related
visuals to describe. You’ll need to choose the important features of both visuals and
say how they are related.
Here’s an example. In this case, there are two line graphs, but you might see two different
visuals, for example a pie chart and a table; or a bar chart and a graph. Let’s read the
titles. Physical Activity by age in 2001, and Overweight, also by age in the same year.
I think we can see quite quickly how these two sets of data are related.
To write the response, first you would describe one graph, and then the other. At the end, you
would write one or two sentences to show how they are related. We’ll look at this more
closely later in the unit.
I hope this introduction has given you some confidence to understand and interpret data
in the different types of visuals you may see in Task 1 of the Writing Test. There’s
a lot to remember, but it will help you to be prepared on your test day.