IELTS-Blog

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 figures you could see in Writing 1 Task:

Click here to see fantastic examples of all possible figures in IELTS Writing 1 test.

No matter what figure you are describing, you shouldn’t break these rules:

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.

Well, IELTS is getting closer and you are practicing harder, solving more IELTS exams, reading passages, etc. But is it the most efficient way of practicing?

The best tip I can share with you is this: when you check your answers versus the correct ones, pay special attention to those you did WRONG. There always will be a chance to congratulate yourself later for those you’ve got right.

When you are going over the wrong questions one by one, try to understand why your answer is wrong, why the answer from the answer key is correct, and most importantly - why you made that mistake. Remember it and make sure you never make it again.

See what trap you walked in, what are your “weaknesses”, what type of task is the hardest for you. If, for instance, most of your mistakes are in “True/False/Not Given” task - double-check your answers there. Or may be your problem is “Matching heading” task? Then pay extra attention to that kind of questions.