IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Visual Types, with Examples

In IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 you describe a piece of visual information in your own words: a graph, table, chart or diagram, or sometimes a map. You must write at least 150 words, and IELTS.org recommends spending about 20 minutes on it. A strong answer opens with a clear overview of the main trends or differences, then supports it with well-chosen details and comparisons, all in connected sentences and with no personal opinion.

This guide goes through each visual type in turn, shows what examiners look for under the official criteria, and gives worked examples you can adapt. For how Task 1 and Task 2 fit together in the Writing test as a whole, see our IELTS Writing guide.

What Task 1 actually asks you to do

The official Academic Writing format page says you may be asked to describe one or more graphs, charts or tables, or a diagram of an object, device, process or event. All the information you need is in the visual itself. The official key assessment criteria call it an information-transfer task that relates narrowly to the factual content of the visual input, not to speculative explanations that lie outside the given data. In plain terms: report and compare what you see, and do not explain why it happened.

A few format rules apply to every Task 1:

• Write in an academic or semi-formal, neutral style.
• Use full sentences. Notes and bullet points are penalised.
• Write at least 150 words. A shorter answer may not show enough of the language features needed for higher bands.
• Stay on topic and use your own words. Writing that does not relate to the task is penalised, and plagiarised writing is severely penalised.
• If you take IELTS on computer you type your answer; with the Writing on Paper option, where it is offered, you handwrite it on an answer sheet. Anything in the note-taking tool is not seen by the examiner.

Task 1 is the smaller of the two tasks. IELTS.org states that Task 2 contributes twice as much as Task 1 to the Writing score, so keep to your 20 minutes.

How Task 1 is marked

Task 1 is marked on four criteria: Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. For Academic Task 1, the official key assessment criteria say Task Achievement looks at your ability to:

• select the key features of the information;
• give enough detail to illustrate those features;
• report the information, figures and trends accurately;
• compare or contrast the information by highlighting the identifiable trends, principal changes or differences, rather than giving a mechanical description of detail;
• present the response in an appropriate format.

The public Writing band descriptors make the overview the dividing line. At band 7, an Academic response "presents a clear overview, the data are appropriately categorised, and main trends or differences are identified." At band 6, "a relevant overview is attempted." At band 5, "the recounting of detail is mainly mechanical" and "there may be a tendency to focus on details (without referring to the bigger picture)." If you remember one thing from this guide, make it this: write a separate overview sentence, and make it about the big picture.

The visual types, one by one

Each type of visual has its own job, so the right overview looks different for each. The table below sums up what to look for first and the language that usually fits.

Graphs, bar charts and pie charts

With data visuals, the temptation is to start at the left-hand side and describe every point. Resist it. Look at the whole visual first and ask two questions: what is the overall direction, and what is the most striking comparison? Those two answers are your overview. The body paragraphs then show the evidence, with figures taken from the visual, and the band 6 descriptor expects information to be "supported using figures/data".

Pie charts are about proportions, so vary how you express them: "a quarter", "just under half", "the largest share", "a small minority". When there are two pie charts, for two years or two places, the comparison between them is the point of the task.

Tables

Tables give you exact numbers and no visual shape, which makes them the easiest type to describe mechanically. Before you write, group the rows or columns: which categories behave alike, which one is the exception, where is the biggest gap? Two or three groups make two or three clear body paragraphs.

Maps

A map task may show one place at two points in time, or two plans for the same site. There are no trends to describe; your overview states the overall character of the change, such as a rural area becoming built up or a town centre being reorganised around transport. Then describe the changes area by area, using location language (in the north-west, next to the river, along the main road) and verbs of change in the passive voice.

Process diagrams

A process diagram shows stages in order. Your overview says how many main stages there are, where the process begins and where it ends, and whether it is a cycle. The body follows the sequence, usually in the present simple passive ("the bottles are sorted"), with sequencers that mark each step. Do not add stages that the diagram does not show.

A structure that works for every type

A four-paragraph plan keeps you within the time and makes the overview impossible to forget:

1. Introduction (one sentence). Say what the visual shows, in your own words rather than the wording of the question.
2. Overview (one or two sentences). State the main trends, differences or stages, with no figures.
3. Body paragraph 1. The first group of key features, with supporting figures or details.
4. Body paragraph 2. The second group, with comparisons back to the first where they help.

Rather than a closing paragraph that repeats details, make sure the overview is there; it can sit straight after the introduction or at the end.

Worked examples

The three examples below were written for this article to illustrate the structure. The visuals are described in words, so you can follow them without seeing an image. They are not official IELTS tasks, and no band is claimed for them.

Example 1: a process diagram

Imagine a diagram showing how used glass bottles are recycled into new ones: they are collected from recycling points, taken to a plant, sorted by colour, cleaned, crushed, melted in a furnace, shaped in moulds and finally delivered to shops.

The diagram illustrates the stages by which used glass bottles are recycled into new bottles.

Overall, the process consists of eight main stages, beginning with the collection of used bottles and ending with the delivery of new ones to shops, so the cycle can then start again.

First, used bottles are collected from public recycling points and transported to a recycling plant. There, they are sorted according to their colour, after which they are cleaned to remove labels and other waste.

Once they are clean, the bottles are crushed into small pieces, and this crushed glass is melted in a furnace. The liquid glass is then poured into moulds to form new bottles, which are finally delivered to shops, ready to be filled, sold and eventually recycled once more.

Notice what the answer does: the overview counts the stages and names the start and end, the passive voice keeps attention on the bottles, and every stage comes from the diagram rather than from general knowledge.

Example 2: two maps

Imagine two maps of a small coastal village, one from an earlier year and one showing the village today. In the later map, the fishing huts on the beach have been replaced by a hotel, a car park has been built where there were fields, the main road has been extended along the coast, and the short pier has been lengthened.

The maps compare a coastal village at two points in time.

Overall, the village has developed from a small fishing settlement into a place built around tourism, with most of the new construction along the seafront.

The most noticeable change is on the beach, where the row of fishing huts has been demolished and replaced by a hotel. The pier, which was short in the earlier map, has been extended further out to sea.

Inland, the fields to the east of the village have made way for a car park, and the main road, which originally ended in the village centre, now continues along the coast.

Example 3: a line graph

Imagine a line graph showing how commuters in one city travelled to work over a period of years, by car, by bus and by bicycle. Car use rises throughout, bus use falls, the two lines cross in the middle of the period, and cycling stays low.

Because this graph is imaginary, the figures are left as placeholders in brackets. In the exam you take them from the visual, choosing the ones that support each point.

The line graph shows how commuters in one city travelled to work by car, bus and bicycle over a period of [number] years.

Overall, car use rose steadily while bus travel declined, and by the end of the period the car had overtaken the bus as the most common way to get to work. Cycling remained the least popular option throughout.

At the start of the period, the bus was the most widely used form of transport, at around [figure], compared with [figure] for the car. Over the following years, bus use fell gradually, while car use climbed, and the two lines crossed in [year].

By the final year, car use had reached [figure], roughly [comparison] the figure for the bus. Cycling, meanwhile, changed very little, staying at around [figure] throughout.

Where Task 1 marks are lost

Each point below comes from the official format page, the key assessment criteria or the band descriptors:

• No overview, or an overview full of numbers. The overview is what separates band 7 from bands 6 and 5 under Task Achievement.
• Describing everything. A mechanical, point-by-point account is a band 5 feature. Choose the key features, and leave minor details out.
• Explaining or giving opinions. Reasons and speculation lie outside the data, and the task is limited to the data.
• Inaccurate reporting. Task Achievement includes reporting figures and trends accurately, so check every number you quote against the visual.
• Too short. Under 150 words may not give enough evidence for higher bands, and responses of 20 words or fewer are rated at band 1.
• Copying the question. Lifting whole phrases from the task is no substitute for your own words: at band 4 the descriptors mention inappropriate use of memorised phrases, formulaic language and language from the input material.
• Bullet points or notes. Any part of the answer in note form is penalised.

How to practise Task 1

• Practise every type. Rotate through line graphs, bar charts, pie charts, tables, maps and processes, so that no type surprises you in the exam.
• Write the overview first. Before writing anything else, spend a minute deciding what your overview sentence will say.
• Keep to 20 minutes and type it. IELTS Academic is delivered on computer, so unless you will be using Writing on Paper, practise typing to time.
• Check against the criteria. After each answer, ask the four Task Achievement questions: did I select the key features, support them, report them accurately and compare them?
• Get feedback on your own writing. Comparing your answer with a model shows you the gap; having it marked against the four criteria shows you how to close it.

For targeted practice, our IELTS Question Bank has Writing questions by official task type alongside Listening, Reading and Speaking. If you would like feedback on your own Task 1 and Task 2 answers, that is part of one-to-one IELTS tutoring, where a tutor goes through your writing against the four criteria, and of the group course, where your tutor checks your weekly Writing homework and gives you feedback. To see how Academic Writing differs from General Training, read our IELTS Academic guide.

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