pie charts line graphs bar charts tables maps and diagrams in your IELTS Academic Writing
Task 1 you'll be required to describe one of them today we're going to look at some sample answers
for each type of task and discuss how to score higher in the four criteria examiners use to
assess your answers it's Asiya let's get started
let's take an example from Cambridge IELTS 16
the charts below show the changes in ownership of electrical appliances and amount of time spent
doing housework in households in one country between 1920 and 2019 summarize the information
by selecting and Reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant write at least
150 words task one assesses our ability to write a report summarizing data presented in a number
of possible ways the question never varies never the idea then is for you to find the key elements
in the information above all ask yourself what is this really all about is there a key factor
or some part to your answer to this question is absolutely essential if you want to get a high
score in task achievement the first of the four criteria examiners assess you can find it in the
is band descriptors the document that lists all the requirements for each Criterion and
each band score these band descriptors can be a bit of a mystery sometimes for example you'd
have to be an I's examiner to know what a ban nine in task achievement really means when it
says fully satisfies all the requirements of the task but for lower band notice the word overview
band seven presents a clear overview of the main Trends differences or stages Ben six presents an
overview with information appropriately selected B five presents detail mechanically with no clear
overview B five tells us where some test takers go wrong they jump in too fast and just describe
what they see there is very little to no attempt to interpret it have a good look at the task again
what overview could we give here what's the main thing you've learned there is a fairly
obvious connection between the two charts can you see it the more appliances at home the less
time spent cooking washing and cleaning so in the report our first sentence presents the task you
can do this by paraphrasing the task sentence our second sentence is our overview here is a
possible version the two charts provide data on the percentage of families in an unnamed country
that possessed labor saving devices together with the average time spent weekly on domestic chores
over a 100e period the data reveals a clear relationship between the growth in ownership
of such devices and the decreasing amount of time devoted to household tasks remember how important
it is to also summarize what we see and read using synonyms three things stand out here the first is
yes the synonyms to achieve a high score not only in task achievement but also lexical resource you
need to paraphrase so households become families electrical appliances are labor saving devices
time spent can be time devoted it ownership changes to the verb possessed and the charts
no longer show they provide data wrong secondly notice in this first part how General everything
is no figures no raw data yet that's an important point to keep in mind wait until the second and
third paragraph to give out the details the third point is the overview sentence two it
shows that you have understood what the graphic data is essentially all about right let's move on
to another task descriptor and look at lexical resource or your vacabulary The Examiner wants
to see how well you can use words to express very precise meanings The Examiner is also on
the lookout for uncommon words words that are perfectly appropriate in the context but not
the usual common words this shows your range of vacabulary how wide and deep it is another
important aspect is how you can combine words together in a natural accurate way we call this
cation how words go together such as do your best or make a mess and errors well in the descriptors
it does point to inaccurate spelling and errors in word formation that would not help you obtain
a really high band score but then again at band seven and eight and to some extent even nine some
inaccuracies are tolerated we also have of course synonyms to vary our vocabulary and now let's try
and write some sentences I want to be very precise to show my range and depth of vocabulary and to
use some uncommon words if possible let's go back to our first domestic appliances chart what do you
notice the percentage of homes possessing refrigerators grew dramatically after they
were first introduced in 1920 climbing to 50% ownership in just 20 years and to 90% by 1960
by the Year 1980 the peak of 100% was reached a figure that has been maintained throughout the
remainder of the periods Sur Aid vacuum cleaners were also found in every home but from the year
2000 onwards after having risen steadily from 30% in 1920 to 90% in 1980 however by 2020 only 3 qus
of all homes possessed a washing machine ownership of this Appliance arose gradually from 40% in 1920
to 70% in 1960 and despite suffering a slight fall over the following 20 years have maintained
a steady growth since a lot lot of increases and decreases so we need to offer a range of synonyms
we have the verbs grow climb rise they collocate with adverbs dramatically steadily gradually and
the nouns Peak fall growth which ccate with to reach a peak a slight fall steady growth
if there is no change neither up nor down you can use the verb maintain remember to that you
must be accurate with data and Vary how you refer to it whenever possible here we see for example
not only percentages but also fractions as in 3/4 of all homes instead of 75% similarly 25% is one4
1/4 or 1 and four for example one and four people 33% is 1/3 of 1 and three 50% is half 66% is 2/3
or two in three I know that task one requires a lot of specific words to describe the charts and
Maps which we don't use every day that's why for my courses I even created a vocabulary for task
one where you can learn the essential words words and see examples of how to use them in
task one answers so if you have some time before your exam know that learning vocabulary for task
one definitely helps and now let's change the topic and the type of task as well most of us
think of grammar when we learn another language we want to get it right and the examiner is looking
at our range of structures how complex they are as well as noticing errors if our sentences are
pretty much error free and complex we're looking at band8 or n a band seven will include some minor
errors but also show a good control of grammar and punctuation so let's look at this in the
context of a task one showing maps of plans these are interesting because above all they clearly
illustrate change and in the example we're going to look at compare the point in the past with one
in the future so first take a good look with me at the question the diagrams below show the site
of a school in 2004 and the plan for changes to the school site in 2024 and we see two maps 2004
and 2024 what what are the major changes you see here have these changes already happened
no they're planned for the future and when the task was written 2024 was still future so you
need to show different ways of describing future events student numbers are predicted to rise to
over 60% from 600 in 2004 to 1,000 by the year 2024 to accommodate this increase the path that
joins the main entrance to the sports field will be shortened allowing the two existing school
buildings to be linked additionally on the site where the sports field currently stands a third
School building is to be constructed together with a second car park to the right of this new
teaching area connecting this car park to the main entrance will be a new road which will pass along
this south side of the existing school buildings meanwhile the sports field will be relocated to
the other side of this new road directly south of the second car park we can use several verb forms
to talk about the future the future simple will be will pass along there are also a lot
of passive structures because we are emphasizing changes that will be made and it's not important
who will make them we'll be shortened we be relocated the passive voice but there
are also verbs in the present when we know that something has already been planned our predicted
to rise is to be constructed Ed onto our final Criterion coherence and cohesion your answer is
coherent if it's logically organized that's your structure your paragraphs your answer is cohesive
if your sentences are linked together and there is a smooth transition from one idea to the next
let's have a look at a diagram from Cambridge I 16 the diagram below shows the process for
recycling plastic bottoms one issue here perhaps is our overview with this type of question it's
important to point out the overall purpose of the process and the key stages the diagram illustrates
a recycling process describing a series of nine stages through which used plastic bottles are
remanufactured as brand new plastic item items such as pens bags and containers which eventually
in turn will likely be recycled themselves describing the steps involved can be simply
sequential using words like first then and so on but it's also good to show how the steps in the
process are linked in terms of consequence first plastic bottles are placed in specified recycling
bins from which they collected and then send to recycling senters for sorting this sentence covers
the first two stages in the beginning of the third simply linked by first from which and then to show
the reason behind the Sorting process stage three and how that leads to stages four and five we have
this once the bottles suitable for recycling have been selected they compressed and converted into
large blocks that are subsequently sent through crushing machines this sentence explains why stage
five crushing is necessary the crushing process is necessary to produce pieces that are sufficiently
small to be later turned into plastic pellets so this one connects what happens after crushing
to the making of the plastic pallets before that however the crushed plastic is Thoroughly washed
as you might have noticed we have no conclusion although it's really important to include an
overview near the start of the answer to show that you really understand what it's all about and no
opinion or revealing Insider or previous knowledge so we're never going to find in task one something
like after 2024 this school will be a better place to study because of the extra space a better place
to study is your opinion that shouldn't be there so just say this school will be extended so one3
of your writing score depends on how well you can meet all the requirements with touched on today
for in depth preparation you should learn how to analyze the data and select what we call the key
features what to write about in each paragraph of your report and how to address different types of
tasks you can learn all these step by step in my online courses which can help you prepare in less
time and achieve a higher score I'll link them in the description and if you'd like a taster
watch this in-depth lesson on how to write an introduction to your task one report this is a
free preview from my paid calls and don't forget to download the slides for that video too and
thank you so much for watching me today good luck with your preparation and your exam bye