Tips for Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic test

14 Jun, 2011Archive, IELTS

Tips for Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic test

As I promised many of you, this is what you need to know about Academic IELTS test Writing Task 1.

The task here is to describe a graph in a report. The report is intended for university lecturer, so the language you use should be appropriate.

There are several different graphs you could see in Writing 1 Task:

  • Single line graph – see example

Dubai Gold Sales

The line graph shows estimated sales of gold in Dubai for 12 months in 2002 in millions of dirhams. There were two main seasons for gold sales.

The main season for sales is in the December to May period. Sales were consistently above 200 million dirhams per month, rising sharply to a peak of 350 million dirhams in March. However, for the next four months, sales declined steadily, reaching an annual low of 120 million dirhams in July.

In August, there was a sudden increase. Sales almost doubled, rising from 120 million dirhams in July to 210 million dirhams in August. This was followed by a drop in September, back to the July figure.

From September to October, sales recovered, from 120 to 180 million. In October and November, sales remained steady, and there was a small increase in December to 190 million dirhams.

In conclusion, the main sales period is in the early part of the year, slumping in the summer, except for a sudden increase in August.

  • Double line graph

  • Bar graph (Single, Double or Triple bar graph)

  • Pie chart 

  • Table

  • Process

No matter what graph, diagram or table you are describing, you shouldn’t break these rules:

  • Report must be of at least 150 words written in 20 minutes
  • You shouldn’t write your opinion or copy words from graph – rephrase and use synonyms instead.
  • Never use bullets, write as if you were writing essay or letter.

When your Academic Writing 1 Task is graded by IELTS examiners, they look for this structure:
Introduction
Body
Conclusion

Introduction should describe the purpose of report and say what overall trends you see.
For example, if the graph is climbing up or dropping down, you should mention that.You need to remember that you are describing a graph to someone who doesn’t see it. Write what the graph is about, its dates and location.

Body should describe the most important trends, while all information is summarized to avoid unnecessary details. For example, if there is a graph that has 2 peaks, you should mention them; tell when those peaks appeared and what the peak values are.Notice how many distinctive features diagram has and divide information into paragraphs, one paragraph for one feature. You should link the paragraphs by sentences that logically connect them to one another.

Important! You need to write about all the periods of time and all the subjects of graph.If it shows several years (1992, 1993, 1994) – write about all of them, if it is about men and women – write about both. Remember, summarizing doesn’t mean throwing away information. The secret here is to select what’s important, organize it, compare and contrast.

Conclusion should sum up the global trends shown on the figure and compare them if possible.

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