IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 gives you a visual — a graph, table, chart or diagram — and asks you to describe it in at least 150 words in about 20 minutes. Task 1 contributes half as much to your Writing band as Task 2 does, which is exactly why 20 minutes and not 30.
The task is description, not interpretation. You are not asked why the figures moved or what should be done about them, and writing either loses marks under task achievement.
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| Paragraph | Content | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Introduction | Paraphrase the prompt: what the visual shows, where, when, in what units | 25-35 |
| 2 — Overview | The two or three biggest features, with no specific figures | 40-55 |
| 3 — Detail A | The first logical group, with figures | 50-65 |
| 4 — Detail B | The second group, with figures | 50-65 |
| Total | — | 170-220 |
Aim for 170 to 200 words. Under 150 is penalised; well over 220 costs you Task 2 time that is worth twice as much.
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The [chart type] [shows / illustrates / compares] the [subject] in [place] [between X and Y / in year Z], measured in [units]. |
| Original prompt wording | Paraphrase |
|---|---|
| The graph below shows… | The line graph illustrates… |
| …the number of… | …how many… / the figures for… |
| …from 2010 to 2020 | …over a ten-year period / across two decades |
| …in three countries | …in three national markets |
| …percentage of… | …proportion of… / share of… |
Copying the prompt word for word is not credited towards your word count. Change at least the verb and one noun phrase.
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Overall, [the biggest single feature]. [Second feature, expressed as a contrast or a shared pattern]. [Optional third: the outlier or the exception]. |
| Visual type | What the overview should name |
|---|---|
| Line graph over time | The overall direction, and which series ends highest |
| Bar chart comparing categories | The largest and smallest categories |
| Pie charts | The dominant segment in each, and whether the ranking changed |
| Table | The highest and lowest figures, and any row or column that behaves differently |
| Process diagram | How many stages, what goes in, what comes out |
| Map | The single biggest change between the two versions |
No figures in the overview. Figures belong in the body; the overview is where you demonstrate that you can see the whole visual at once.
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Body A: [Series 1] began at [figure] in [year] and [rose / fell] [adverb] to [figure] by [year]. This [increase / decline] was [most pronounced / steadiest] between [year] and [year], when it [verb] by [amount]. Body B: [Series 2] followed a [similar / contrasting] pattern. Having [started / stood] at [figure], it [verb] to [figure], overtaking [Series 1] in [year]. By the end of the period, the gap between them had [widened / narrowed] to [amount]. |
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Body A: [Category 1] recorded the highest figure at [amount], followed by [Category 2] at [amount]. Together these two accounted for [proportion] of the total. Body B: At the other end of the scale, [Category N] stood at only [amount], roughly [fraction] of the leading figure. [Category M] and [Category L] were broadly comparable, at [amount] and [amount] respectively. |
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Body A: In [year 1], [segment] was the largest category at [percentage], with [segment] and [segment] making up a further [percentage] between them. Body B: By [year 2] this picture had changed. [Segment] had grown to [percentage], displacing [segment] as the leading category, while [segment] had fallen by [percentage points] to [percentage]. |
With pie charts, say “percentage points” for a change and “percent” for a level. A share that moves from 20 to 25 percent has risen by five percentage points, not by five percent.
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Body A: The process begins when [input] is [passive verb]. This is then [passive verb] in the [stage name], after which the [material] passes to the [next stage]. Body B: At the [nth] stage, the [material] is [passive verb] before being [passive verb]. The final step involves [gerund], producing [output], which is then [passive verb] for [purpose]. |
Process diagrams need the passive voice and sequencing markers rather than trend vocabulary. Use “is heated”, “is transferred”, “having been filtered” — and no figures, since diagrams rarely carry any.
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Body A: In [year 1], the site consisted largely of [feature], with [feature] occupying the [direction] section and [feature] to the [direction]. Body B: By [year 2], [feature] had been [replaced by / converted into] [feature]. A [new feature] had been constructed on the site of the former [feature], and the [feature] had been extended [direction]wards. |
| Direction | Verbs | Nouns |
|---|---|---|
| Up | rise, increase, grow, climb, surge (sharp) | a rise, an increase, growth, a surge |
| Down | fall, decline, decrease, drop, plummet (sharp) | a fall, a decline, a decrease, a drop |
| No change | remain stable, hold steady, level off, plateau | stability, a plateau |
| Fluctuation | fluctuate, vary, oscillate | fluctuation, variation |
| Peak and trough | peak at, bottom out at, reach a low of | a peak, a trough, a low point |
| Degree | Adverbs (with verbs) | Adjectives (with nouns) |
|---|---|---|
| Large | sharply, dramatically, considerably, substantially | a sharp / dramatic / considerable rise |
| Moderate | steadily, gradually, moderately | a steady / gradual rise |
| Small | slightly, marginally | a slight / marginal rise |
| Speed | rapidly, slowly, abruptly | a rapid / slow / abrupt rise |
| Function | Structures |
|---|---|
| Larger | X was higher than Y / X exceeded Y by… / X was twice as high as Y |
| Smaller | X was lower than Y / X fell short of Y by… / X was half the level of Y |
| Similar | X and Y were broadly comparable / at a similar level / almost identical |
| Approximation | just over / just under / approximately / in the region of / around |
| Fractions | a third / a quarter / two thirds / a fraction of |
| Change in a share | rose by five percentage points (not five percent) |
| Ranking | the highest / the second highest / the lowest of the four |
Prompt: The line graph below shows the number of visitors to three museums in one city between 2012 and 2022. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
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The line graph compares annual visitor numbers at three museums in a single city across an eleven-year period, measured in thousands. Overall, the City Museum attracted the most visitors throughout, although its lead narrowed considerably by the end of the period. The Maritime Museum grew fastest, while the Natural History Museum was the only one of the three to finish lower than it started. The City Museum began at 420,000 visitors in 2012 and rose gradually to a peak of 510,000 in 2018. It then declined for four consecutive years, ending at 445,000 in 2022 — only marginally above its opening figure. The Natural History Museum followed a broadly similar shape at a lower level, standing at 310,000 in 2012 and falling to 240,000 by 2022, with the steepest drop occurring after 2019. The Maritime Museum behaved quite differently. From a starting point of just 90,000, the lowest of the three, it climbed steadily throughout, overtaking the Natural History Museum in 2017 and reaching 395,000 by 2022. This represented more than a fourfold increase, and by the final year the gap between it and the City Museum had narrowed to around 50,000 visitors. |
190 words. Four paragraphs, an overview with no figures, figures in every body paragraph, and no explanation of why any of it happened.
| Error | Criterion affected | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No overview paragraph | Task achievement — caps the band | Always write it, and write it second |
| Explaining causes | Task achievement | Describe only; the visual has no causes in it |
| Giving an opinion or recommendation | Task achievement | Save that for Task 2 |
| Listing every data point | Task achievement, coherence | Select the main features; you cannot report all of them in 200 words |
| Copying the prompt | Lexical resource, and copied words do not count | Paraphrase the verb and one noun phrase minimum |
| Under 150 words | Penalised directly | Target 170-200 |
| Confusing percent and percentage points | Lexical resource | Levels in percent, changes in percentage points |
| Spending 30 minutes on Task 1 | Task 2, which is worth double | Stop at 20 minutes even if unfinished |
At least 150, and 170 to 200 is the practical target. Below 150 attracts a penalty; much above 220 spends time on the task worth half as much as Task 2.
About 20 minutes of the 60-minute Writing test. Task 2 contributes twice as much to your Writing band, so the remaining 40 minutes belong to it.
Yes, and it is the single most important paragraph. An answer without an overview is limited under task achievement regardless of how accurate the detail is. Write it second, and keep specific figures out of it.
No. Task 1 asks you to summarise and compare what the visual shows. Causes, opinions and recommendations are outside the task and cost you marks under task achievement.
Past tenses for a completed period, present for a chart with no time dimension, and future forms only if the visual itself shows projected data. Process diagrams take the present passive.
On four criteria: task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy. They carry equal weight within the task, and the task itself carries half the weight of Task 2 in the Writing band.
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