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