Hi, I'm Jan. I'm a former IELTS examiner for IDP in Toronto and I help students crack the code on Band 7+ writing.
This IELTS Writing Task 1 Academic guide was developed by myself and other former IELTS examiners to eliminate the confusion that students face. It will teach you the SIMPLEST possible way to describe a graph, before-and-after map, and process diagram for the IELTS academic exam. We'll go over the marking criteria, best structure, powerful writing tips, and several model answers.
What are the requirements for IELTS Writing Task 1 Academic?
Your IELTS diagram description will be marked according to four criteria:
It's important to understand these criteria so that you know what to focus on. You have to include a lot of information in the right order for a high score.
You can access this official rubric here: https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/ielts_task_1_writing_band_descriptors.pdf
Task Achievement criteria tell us what CONTENT we MUST include:
1. “covers the requirements of the task”
People lose marks in two main ways. First, they often neglect to support their descriptions with data. You must first describe the main patterns, and then you must back up your descriptions using data from the graph.
Second, people often neglect to make relevant comparisons. Instead, they simply describe the graph. Just describing the graph without talking about patterns will get you a low mark. Making comparisons shows you can think; it shows you’re not a robot.
We’ll talk about the different ways of making relevant comparisons below.
2. “(Academic) presents a clear overview of main trends, differences or stages”
3. “clearly presents and highlights key features/bullet points but could be more fully extended”
4. “presents and adequately highlights key features/bullet points but details may be irrelevant, inappropriate or inaccurate”
Coherence and Cohesion criteria tell us that our content must be clearly organized and use abundant cohesive devices (transitions) to clearly show the reader how ideas are related to each other.
1. “Skilfully manages paragraphing”:
2. “Sequences information and ideas logically”:
3. “Uses a range of cohesive devices appropriately”:
Lexical Resource criteria tell us that we need to use a wide range of vocabulary, including low-frequency words and expressions.
1. “Uses a wide range of vocabulary fluently and flexibly to convey precise meanings”:
2. “Skillfully uses uncommon lexical items”:
The examiner does not have a list of vocabulary that they are looking for. They are looking for vocabulary that is appropriate and precise. It is a TERRIBLE STRATEGY to use big words where small words can be used. Your main goal as a writer is to clearly convey your ideas to the reader. IT SHOULD NOT BE YOUR GOAL to impress the reader/examiner with your vocabulary.
Your goal is to avoid any chance of misunderstanding, and complex language guarantees misunderstanding. You should pretend you are writing for an intelligent 12-year-old, which will prevent you from using long, wordy explanations. If you wouldn't use that kind of language with a 12-year-old, don't use it with an adult either - it will confuse them too.
3. Although it is not stated here, use formal language ONLY.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy criteria tell us that we need to use a wide variety of grammatical structures and that a high percentage of our sentences need to be completely error-free if we want Band 7 or above.
1. “Produces frequent error-free sentences”:
2. “Uses a wide range of structures”:
These are described in more detail below.
Most people don't know this but IELTS calculates your overall score and your writing score differently.
Your overall IELTS score is rounded the same way that we are taught to round in math class. If you get Band 7 on reading, Band 7 on listening, Band 7 on speaking, and Band 6 on writing, you will end up with Band 7 overall.
Overall Band Score: (7+7+7+6)/4 = 6.75 > Rounded UP to 7
However, your writing and speaking score are calculated differently. For writing and speaking, IELTS ROUNDS DOWN! On writing, if you get Band 7 on Task Achievement, Band 7 on Coherence and Cohesion, Band 7 on Lexical Resource, and Band 6 on Grammatical Range and Accuracy, you will end up with Band 6.5 overall.
Writing/Speaking Band Score: (7+7+7+6)/4 = 6.75 > Rounded DOWN to 6.5
IELTS Writing Task #1 Academic diagram descriptions are typically 3 paragraphs in length, but we often see 2 and 4 paragraph descriptions.
The introduction includes the context and general overview.
There is a lot of stupid advice about where to put the general overview:
Body paragraphs have a single controlling idea.
There is NO CONCLUSION.
Use the ABCDE writing process for all writing tasks:
These are the major patterns you'll encounter. We'll see examples of these for each specific diagram type further below.
The more detail you include in your description and the more thorough it is, the higher your Task Achievement score will be. This would be easy if you had a lot of time. However, you only have 20 minutes so your ability to do this depends on your ability to spot patterns quickly and write about them precisely (and very quickly). The best way to prepare is to read a lot of high quality examples. This course includes over 40 sample responses for Academic Writing Task #1 (and over 60 Writing Task #2 models) written by native speaker current and past IELTS examiners.
To get Band 7, you need to use a good variety of complex sentences. Use of passive voice should also be evident. Typical common complex sentence forms include subordinate clauses and relative clauses. Subordinate clauses in the middle of sentences rather than at just the beginning or end are evidence of strong writing skills. The example below also includes appositives and compound sentences.
Further below, you'll find a list (with examples from the sample responses) of 9 grammar and complex sentence structures you should know for Band 7 or higher writing. You will find these structures useful for describing different features of the 10 different diagram types.
The diagrams used for Writing Task #1 Academic fall into 10 specific categories:
We have to identify the most salient features of the graph:
Talk about the big, obvious trends in the graph:
Two media went up; two media went down. This is our grouping.
You need to describe the size of the increase AND the percentage change for a meaningful comparison.
Two noteworthy patterns can be found in this graph. Different graph types will show other pattern types (in the course, we use a checklist when searching for patterns).
Use present simple to describe the features of the graph in the introduction. Then, in the case of this graph, describe the data in past simple and past perfect.
The line graph shows music sales in the US from 2011-2018 across 4 different formats (downloads, streaming, CDs, and vinyl), according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Overall, it can clearly be seen that although music sales increased over the 7-year period, streaming came to account for most of the revenue while downloads and CDs dropped sharply in sales.
Over seven years, total music sales rose from about $7 billion to about $9.5 billion. The largest increase was in music streaming, which had started off in 3rd place. In 2011, streaming brought in 0.8 billion dollars and this climbed gradually until 2015 when it made approximately 2.3 billion dollars. By 2018 though, sales had shot up to 7.3 billion dollars, which was about 3.5 times more than the other three music formats put together. Notably, vinyl also showed a slight upward trend. It had started at 0.1 billion in sales in 2011 but reached just under half a billion dollars by 2018, an increase of approximately 400%.
Downloads and CD music sales followed a similar downward pattern. In 2011, downloads accounted for 3 billion dollars’ worth of sales with CDs just below at around $2.8 billion. From here, both experienced a gradual decline until 2018 when downloads brought in 1 billion dollars and CDs $0.8 billion, roughly 1/3 of their initial sales.
We have to identify the most salient features of the graph:
The chart below shows the percentage of total US population aged 65 and over between 1900 and 2000.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
Talk about the big, obvious trends in the graph:
You need to describe the size of the increase AND the percentage change for a meaningful comparison.
65-74
75-84
85+
Use present simple to describe the features of the graph in the introduction. Then, in the case of this graph, describe the data in past simple.
This graph illustrates the proportion of Americans 65 and over divided into three age groups (65-74, 75-84, and 85+) during a 100-year period starting from 1900, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Generally speaking, it can clearly be seen that each age group increased as a percentage of the total U. S. population, with the most significant growth seen in the oldest group.
In terms of the total population, the proportion of seniors grew steadily over most of the studied period. Indeed, their proportion more than tripled from 4.1% in 1900 to 12.6% in 1990, before slightly dropping to 12.4% by 2000. Among seniors, the youngest group (65-74) comprised the largest proportion, more than doubling from 2.9 to 7.3% by 1990, before dipping to 6.5% of the population in 2000.
A similar trend was seen with the second age group (75-84). Starting at only 1% of the U.S. population in 1900, this group gradually quadrupled in proportion to 4.4 percent by 2000.
Finally, while the oldest age group made up the smallest proportion of the population, it showed the largest percentage increase. In the first three decades, this group remained at 0.2% of the population; then, it grew 50% to 0.3 percent and maintained the same proportion over the next three decades. From 1960, the percentage of 85+year-olds rose quickly, peaking at 1.5% of the population in 2000, which represented an increase of 650% since the beginning of the study.
Included with full course access.
We have to identify the most salient features of the table.
The table gives information on the sales of Fairtrade*-labelled coffee and bananas in 1999 and 2004 in five countries.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
*A Fairtrade label indicates that farmers were paid a living wage for their produce, rather than the market rate.
Source: IELTS
Talk about the big, obvious trends in the graph:
One very effective comparison is between absolute growth and percentage growth. They are often opposite to one another: one item shows the greatest amount of change if you compare absolute values. However, if you look at items that start with the smallest initial values, any kind of growth is going to be very large in terms of percentage.
In this case, we find the absolute-vs-relative pattern with bananas: banana sales slightly more than tripled in the UK (15 - 47 million euros), an increase of 32 million euros. That's the biggest increase we see in banana sales. However, if we look at Denmark, sales went from 0.6 to 4 million euros, an increase of about 6.5 times. In Switzerland, sales went from 1 to 5.5 million euros, an increase of 5.5 times.
We often see this pattern in graphs because when you start with a small initial value like 1 in Switzerland, even a small increase to 5.5 million euros results in a huge percentage jump:
You could write it like this:
*Note that a change from 100 to 300 can be called a 200% increase, or you say it increased by three times. An increase of 100% means that something doubled, so 100-200 = a 100% increase, 100-300 = a 200% increase, etc.
Coffee
Bananas
You need to describe the size of the increase AND the percentage change for a meaningful comparison.
Use present simple to describe the features of the graph in the introduction. Then, in the case of this graph, describe the data in past simple.
The tables provide data about purchases of Fairtrade coffee and bananas in two different years in five nations. Generally speaking, Fairtrade coffee sales increased across the board while banana sales rose only in the UK, Switzerland, and Denmark.
Fairtrade coffee sales rose in all five countries. The UK’s skyrocketed more than 1200% between 1999 to 2004, from €1.5 million-€20 million, while Switzerland’s doubled from €3 million-€6 million over the same period. Coffee sales in Belgium increased 70% (from 1 to 1.7 million euros), but Denmark’s and Sweden’s increased much less, from 1.8 to 2 and from 0.8 to 1 million euros, approximately 10% and 25%, respectively.
With regard to Fairtrade banana purchases, these rose in three countries and fell in two. As with coffee sales, banana sales in the UK also ranked first in total sales volume in both years, increasing from €15 million in 1999 to €47 million in 2004. That being said, Denmark experienced the highest proportional sales increase of about 550%, jumping from €0.6 million-€4 million. Switzerland’s sales also rose quickly, by 450% from €1 million to €5.5 million over the period of the study. In contrast, Belgium’s and Sweden’s sales fell by roughly 50% between 1999 and 2004, from 1.8 to 1 and from 2 to 0.9 million euros, respectively.
Included with full course access.
Included with full course access.
Included with full course access.
Included with full course access.
Included with full course access.
Included with full course access.
Research shows that grammar is largely auditory. Your ears play a very important role! It’s just like listening to an instrument that you don’t know how to play: if the musician hits the wrong note, it just SOUNDS awkward even though you may not know why. In the same way, when you read your work out loud, if ANYTHING sounds awkward, change it to a simpler construction that SOUNDS good. Trust your ears!
If any grammatical construction sounds awkward, use a simpler verb tense.
If any vocabulary sounds awkward, describe your idea using simple words.
The brain is not good at finding problems unless you give it specific instructions. This is why doctors, even though they are super smart, have checklists to make sure they didn't forget any tools inside the patient after surgery. There are just too many things to think about so sometimes we need a small checklist to remind us what to look for.
For that reason, for example, if you often have punctuation issues, you need to go through your writing specifically looking for punctuation problems. As mentioned previously, read your work out loud and where you find yourself pausing (to take a breath between ideas), you need punctuation.
Once you’ve gone through your writing looking for that first problem, go through your writing again looking for the next problem. Then read it out loud for a third time looking for a 3rd issue your writing typically has.
This process is slow initially, but once you start looking for these specific problems on a regular basis, you’re training your brain to automatically look for those problems. Your brain will get faster and more accurate at identifying those problems, and pretty soon you're not going to have them. Then you can move on to the next problem.
Take it step-by-step and look for a couple things at a time rather than looking for 10 different problems at once, which is overwhelming and doesn’t work.
A Band 7 on Grammatical Range and Accuracy requires "a variety of complex sentences." A Band 8 on Grammatical Range and Accuracy requires "a wide range of structures."
There are 9 grammar structures you MUST know to get a Band 7+ on IELTS Writing Task 1 General. Examiners are on the lookout for these. These structures are COMMONLY used in English and are often appropriate for describing graphs and charts, and making comparisons. Band 7 means your English is at an advanced level. At this level, these structures are necessary to express yourself precisely and fluently:
Many students write very long sentences because they believe this will impress the examiner. This certainly will impress the examiner, but ONLY if your long sentences are grammatically flawless. However, the Band 7 criteria very clearly state “produces frequent error-free sentences.” Even a SINGLE MISTAKE in a long sentence means that the entire sentence is no longer error-free.
For example, one student recently wrote Task #1 Academic in four sentences (his sentences had 45 words on average)! He was very lucky as 2 sentences were flawless; therefore, half his sentences were error-free so he received a Band 7 rating on grammar.
However, even among professional writers, this is not a normal way to write. While two of these monster sentences were technically flawless, they had so many clauses in them that I had to reread his work several times to make sure I understood it correctly. In other words, these long sentences were not at all reader friendly. Don’t take chances like this! I strongly recommend limiting sentences to three clauses. You don’t need anything longer for Band 7 performance.
In short, your #1 goal as a writer is to be clear, and long sentences do not help with clarity. In general, you can limit sentence length to 3 clauses.
As another example, Dr. Bruno had taken IELTS repeatedly and failed to get at least Band 7 on writing, which he needed to work as a doctor in Canada. After training with Toronto IELTS Prep, Dr. Bruno simplified his approach to writing and finally got the Band 7 he needed:
I appreciate all your corrections and tips. It made a huge difference to notice that [not enough] “error-free” sentences were pushing my score down. I tried to control those errors during my last test, and it seems everything went well!”
“I just wrote the texts in a simple way instead of using complex structures to give a good impression. I also paid more attention to subject/verb and tenses, avoiding those basic single/plural errors. I didn’t have time to read and correct my texts at the end (like always), but I believe that I controlled my errors during the writing process.
Dr. Bruno E.
Passive voice is useful when the subject is too obvious:
Baby English: People purchased more hot chocolate during the winter months.
Better: More hot chocolate was purchased during the winter months.
Using a subordinate clause is the most common way to make a complex sentence.
If the subordinate clause comes BEFORE the independent clause, ALWAYS place a comma AFTER the subordinate clause.
If the subordinate clause comes AFTER a short independent clause, do not use a comma. If the subordinate clause comes after a long independent clause, it’s your choice whether or not to use a comma between them. Use your ears to make this decision: read the sentence out loud and if you find that you need to pause between the two clauses, then you should probably use a comma.
It's easy to add a subordinate clause at the beginning or end of a sentence like in the examples above. It's less common to use a subordinate clause in the middle of a sentence. This is considered ADVANCED usage:
The second most common way to make a complex sentence is to use a relative clause.
Relative clauses are also called adjective clauses because they describe a noun/noun phrase (person, place, thing, or idea). They provide details just like adjectives do, but they come after the noun instead of before it. Relative clauses generally begin with who, that, or which.
1. Use commas around the relative clause if it’s an extra detail:
These are called "non-defining relative clauses" because the audience knows who you’re talking about ("Jim") or what you're talking about ("the X501") without the relative clause, so the information about where Jim lives or when the part was ordered is an extra detail. If we remove the relative clause from the sentence, we still know who/what you’re talking about:
You can hear these commas! When you read your work out loud, you will find yourself pausing naturally on both sides of these kinds of relative clauses. Use your ears to help with grammar!
2. Don’t use commas if we need the relative clause to understand what the noun refers to:
These are called "defining relative clauses" because you need the information in the relative clause to understand which noun the speaker is referring to. The audience doesn’t know who you're talking about ("my friend") or what you're talking about ("the part") without this information in the relative clause. It’s NOT just an extra detail like in the previous example about Jim.
In these examples, when you read your work out loud, you will NOT pause on both sides of the relative clause. Use your ears to help with grammar!
In a defining relative clause, you can use either “which” or “that”:
In a non-defining relative clause, DO NOT use "that":
Another way to join simple sentences is to use a semi-colon + conjunctive adverb combination. Just remember that both sides of the semi-colon MUST be independent clauses (i.e., stand-alone sentences).
Participial phrases are a common construction that you can think of as a compressed version of a subordinate, relative clause, or independent clause.
Subordinate clause > participial phrase:
Relative clause > participial phrase:
Independent clause > participial phrase:
Participial phrases also come in passive voice:
Use a colon for lists or instructions:
In many cases, it's not necessary to use a relative clause for important details, in particular when the detail is another name for that noun. Instead, use an appositive:
In these cases, the appositive is another name for the noun:
Yes. Average scores for the General exam are higher than for the Academic exam. It is Writing Task #1 Academic that brings down people's scores. Writing Task #1 General is much easier.
In fact, Writing Task #1 Academic is harder for most people than the essay. This is because we all write essays in our native language, so at least the structure of an essay is familiar to most people. However, describing statistics requires a much higher level of precision in language than writing an argument. This is difficult even for native speakers.
Yes, but "high level vocabulary" doesn't mean what you think it means. "High level vocabulary" refers to less frequently used vocabulary - it is not related to how big a word is.
In general, trying to use big words is a terrible strategy on IELTS and in real life. Your #1 goal as a writer is clarity; your goal should NOT be to impress the reader with your vocabulary knowledge. Professional writers will always tell you to use the simplest, most direct words to communicate an idea.
IELTS assesses your vocabulary on whether it is accurate and precise. The examiner does not have a list of words they are looking for.
Formal
In my humble opinion, the best IELTS writing program is the Toronto IELTS Prep online writing program. It starts with a diagnostic assessment and 1 hour consultation & training session to make sure you understand why you're not getting Band 7+, and EXACTLY what you need to do to get Band 7+ on writing.
For many people, this one-hour consultation is enough to help them get the Band score they need. This often happens because they simply misunderstand what IELTS wants to see. The consultation clarifies exactly what IELTS is looking for.
This is not a writing correction service! WRITING CORRECTION SERVICES DO NOT WORK for the same reason that a swimming coach simply showing you how she swims is not going to help you learn how to swim. If a swimming coach shows you how to improve your swimming technique, she is then supposed to check whether YOU know how to apply the new technique.
In the same way, when you practice writing with Toronto IELTS Prep, your work is checked twice:
The only program with 2-stage detailed feedback
1. Write: Complete your writing after reviewing lessons and Band 9 models.
2. Feedback #1: Receive a Band score, detailed feedback, and links to follow-up lessons.
3. Revise: Revise your writing based on feedback. Without this step, neither you nor the teacher knows whether you understand how to fix your problems.
4. Feedback #2 & Corrections: Receive a 2nd round of feedback and corrections.
TIP Online IELTS Writing Course
Dr. Ghazaleh P. from Iran now has the Band 7+ she needs to practice medicine in Canada. Congratulations, Dr. Ghazaleh!
“You’re really different from my previous IELTS teacher. He was ok, but the advice was too general – it didn’t help me improve. You give very specific advice on what I should do to fix my writing. It’s really helpful! As well, the way that you explain the scoring process for each writing task is very helpful. Nobody before explained it as clearly as you explain it. “
After ONE training session, Lev K. from Ukraine now has the Band 8.5 he needs for PR (permanent residency). Congratulations, Lev!
"Just got my results. They are what I was hoping for!"
Q. What helped you the most from our one session together?
A. "From our session, the most useful part was to hear you explain the format, and to compare it to all the different types of essays. It was also extremely useful to have you go over my essays scoring them according to the score guide. This gave some key points to focus on."
After ONE training session, Mohit G. from India raised his writing score from 6.5 to 7.5, which he needs for immigration to Canada. Congratulations, Mohit!
"I am writing to express my gratitude for your help in reaching my desired goal in writing.
I scored 7.5 in writing this time, which is quite amazing compared to my previous score of 6.5. I followed the TREES pattern you suggested and wrote in the simplest manner I could. Also, I believe the one on one feedback session was very helpful in clearing all my queries. I would suggest to never abandon this approach.
Thank you again for all your input."
After 5 weeks of training, Roman Z. from Ukraine now has the Band 7+ he needs for permanent residency (PR). Congratulations, Roman!
"I asked Jan for help with my IELTS exam preparation because high score was extremely important for my immigration process. Jan’s approach is very different from what I’ve seen before. Jan pays a lot of attention to details and accurately identifies the systematic mistakes. For each of them Jan has a respective course with both theoretical part and practical assignments. With Jan’s course I boosted my Writing from 6.0 to 7.0 in 5 weeks! I strongly recommend you take Jan’s course to prepare for IELTS exam properly and to get the highest score!"
Get your Band score with detailed feedback within 24 hours, followed by a 1-1 consultation (within 1-2 days) to go over your writing in depth. Understand EXACTLY what you need to do to get Band 7+.
100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Secure Payment