IELTS Writing Task 1 Academic: method and corrected example

The graph looks clear. You understand the figures, spot an increase and see which category comes first. Yet when it is time to write, you hesitate: should you describe everything? Where should you start? How do you avoid a string of sentences that simply list the data?

IELTS Writing Task 1 Academic asks you to select and present the important information in a visual, in English.

The challenge is to build an organised answer, with an overview and relevant comparisons.

A method for reading the visual, a simple plan and precise vocabulary will help you approach this task with more confidence. Here is how to analyse the question, write your answer and check your work, with a complete annotated example.

Key points

• Follow the instructions: write at least 150 words and spend about 20 minutes on Task 1.
• Select the main information: identify trends, differences and significant changes.
• Include an overview: present the main features of the visual before developing the details.
• Compare the data: group information together rather than commenting on each figure separately.
• Stay factual: describe what the document shows without adding an opinion or an assumed cause.
• Prepare for IELTS with Flow Exam: structure your revision and regularly practise the skills you need for the exam.

1. What is IELTS Writing Task 1 Academic?

Writing Task 1 is the first task in the IELTS Academic Writing test. You must describe, summarise or explain the information presented in a graph, table, map or diagram.

Your answer must contain at least 150 words. It is recommended that you spend about 20 minutes on it out of the 60 minutes available for the whole Writing test. Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1 in the score for this section.

Your answer takes the form of written text, with full sentences and paragraphs. Your job is to present the data in an organised way: what dominates, what changes and what deserves a comparison.

Academic and General Training: two different tasks

In IELTS Academic, Task 1 is about visual information. In IELTS General Training, you write a letter based on a given situation. The methods and the expected register therefore differ depending on the version you take.

Which criteria are assessed?

Task 1 is marked on four criteria:

👉 Task Achievement: how relevant, accurate and well selected the information is.

👉 Coherence and Cohesion: how the text is organised and how ideas are linked.

👉 Lexical Resource: how precise and varied the vocabulary is.

👉 Grammatical Range and Accuracy: how varied and accurate the grammatical structures are.

A complex sentence adds little if it distorts a figure. Start by building an accurate description, then work on how to express it.

2. What types of visuals can you get?

Task 1 is not limited to graphs showing an increase or a decrease. Depending on the question, you may need to compare categories, describe a change or explain the stages of a process.

Whether there are dates partly determines your approach. A graph covering a single year mainly calls for comparisons. A graph covering several years lets you describe changes over time.

For a map or a process, adapt your vocabulary too. The verbs increase and decrease are not enough to explain how a building is constructed or how a raw material is transformed.

3. How should you analyse the graph before writing?

Take a few minutes to understand what is being measured and to choose the information to develop. Starting straight away with the first value increases the risk of producing a list of numbers.

Read the title, the units and the time period

Check four things:

• What is being measured: attendance, spending, production or market share.
• The categories being compared: countries, companies, means of transport or age groups.
• The unit: percentages, numbers of people, euros or tonnes.
• The time period: a single year, past changes or projections.

A value of 40 does not mean the same thing if it stands for 40 people, 40,000 people or 40%.

The verb tense must also match the visual. Generally use the past tense for a period that has ended. If the data are forecasts, make it clear that they are projected: is expected to, is projected to or is forecast to.

Identify the main features

Ask yourself a few questions:

• Which category has the highest value?
• Which has the lowest?
• Which figures increase or decrease?
• Does any category stay stable?
• Does the ranking change?
• Do the gaps widen or narrow?

Two or three strong observations often make a good basis for the overview. They should cover the whole visual, not just one isolated detail.

Group the information

Look for a logical way to organise your detail paragraphs. You can group categories that follow the same trend, contrast an increase with a decrease or compare the highest values with the lowest.

Avoid automatically writing one paragraph per category. That organisation can work, but it sometimes encourages repetition and reduces comparisons.

4. What structure should you use to organise your answer?

A four-paragraph structure is a practical guide for many graphs:

1. An introduction.
2. An overview.
3. A first group of details.
4. A second group of details.

The structure should serve the data. The number of paragraphs and what they contain can vary with the question.

The introduction: paraphrase the question

Present what the visual shows, the categories and the time period. One or two sentences are usually enough.

If the question says:

The chart shows the percentage of commuters using three forms of transport in a city between 2010 and 2020.

You could write:

The chart compares the proportions of commuters travelling by car, bus and bicycle in a city from 2010 to 2020.

The paraphrase stays close to the original meaning. There is no need to replace every word with a synonym, especially if it makes the sentence less precise.

The overview: present the main features

The overview answers the question: what should you take away from the visual as a whole?

Overall, car use declined, while cycling became more common. Cars nevertheless remained the most widely used form of transport throughout the period.

This sentence presents two trends and a ranking. The detailed figures can then illustrate these observations.

For a process, the overview can state the number of stages and whether the process is linear or cyclical. For a map, it can summarise the main way the place has changed.

The detail paragraphs: support the comparisons

Develop your observations with selected values. Each figure should contribute to a comparison or to describing a change.

Car use fell from 60% to 45%, whereas the proportion of cyclists doubled from 10% to 20%.

This sentence links two categories by giving their direction and the size of the change.

A separate conclusion is not needed in Task 1. If your overview already comes after the introduction, avoid repeating it at the end.

5. What vocabulary should you use to describe the data?

Favour words you know how to use correctly. Variety is useful when it allows a precise description; approximate synonyms create mistakes.

Describing changes

Match the words to the size of the change. Slightly suits a small variation; sharply or substantially describe a more marked movement.

Only talk about fluctuations if the data show several variations. Two values, at the start and end of a period, do not tell you what happened in between.

Telling “by” and “to” apart

The difference matters:

• Sales rose to 120 units: sales reached 120 units.
• Sales rose by 20 units: sales increased by 20 units.

To give the starting and end points:

Sales rose from 100 to 120 units.

Comparing categories

Some useful structures:

• higher than / lower than;
• twice as high as;
• the largest proportion;
• whereas / while;
• compared with.

The share of car users was twice as high as that of bus users.

Check your calculation before using twice, three times or half. An incorrect numerical comparison weakens the whole sentence.

Presenting proportions

To vary your wording:

Buses accounted for 30% of commuter journeys.

Approximately one in five commuters travelled by bicycle.

Just under half of the respondents chose option A.

The expressions approximately, just over and just under are useful when values have to be estimated from a graph.

Percentages and percentage points

A proportion that goes from 20% to 30% increases by 10 percentage points, which is a relative increase of 50%.

To avoid ambiguous wording, you can simply write:

The proportion increased from 20% to 30%.

Or specify:

The proportion increased by 10 percentage points.

6. Corrected Writing Task 1 Academic example

The following exercise is original. The data are fictional and presented as a table to make them easier to read.

The question

The table below shows the percentages of commuters using three modes of transport in a city in 2010, 2015 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

The key information

Before writing, four observations stand out:

✅ The car remains the most used mode.

✅ Its share falls at each date.

✅ Bus and bicycle both grow.

✅ The bicycle’s share doubles but remains the smallest.

For the details, a first paragraph can compare the car and the bus. The second can present the bicycle and how its gap with the car narrows.

The model answer

The table compares the percentages of commuters travelling by car, bus and bicycle in a city in 2010, 2015 and 2020.
Overall, cars remained the most popular mode of transport, although their share declined throughout the period. Both bus travel and cycling became more common, with bicycles recording the strongest relative growth while remaining the least used option.
In 2010, 60% of commuters used cars, twice the proportion travelling by bus. Car use subsequently fell to 52% in 2015 and 45% in 2020, a decrease of 15 percentage points over the decade. By contrast, the share of bus users rose more gradually, from 30% to 32% and then to 35%. Consequently, the gap between these two modes narrowed from 30 to 10 percentage points.
Cycling accounted for just 10% of commuters in 2010. This figure increased to 16% five years later and reached 20% in 2020, double its initial level. The difference between car use and cycling therefore fell from 50 percentage points to 25.

Why this answer works

The introduction defines the topic precisely. It keeps the categories, dates and unit, without adding any information.

The overview presents the main trends. It shows the decline of the car, the growth of the other modes and that the ranking stays the same.

The details are organised around comparisons. The answer pairs the car with the bus, then looks at the bicycle. It avoids repeating the same structure three times for each year.

The calculations serve the description. The narrowing gaps illustrate how the distribution changes. No cause is invented: the table does not allow you to claim that residents changed their habits for economic or environmental reasons.

This answer is a teaching model and has not been given an official score.

7. What mistakes should you avoid in Writing Task 1?

A description can be grammatically correct and still answer the task poorly. Here are the mistakes to watch out for:

❌ Piling up figures. Select the values that illustrate the important trends and comparisons.

❌ Forgetting the overview. Check that your answer brings out the main features of the visual.

❌ Giving your opinion. Avoid judgements such as This is a positive development if the task asks for a description.

❌ Inventing causes. An increase in sales does not, on its own, prove that an advertising campaign succeeded.

❌ Changing the unit. A market share is not a number of customers; thousands of euros are not euros.

❌ Exaggerating a change. Choose a descriptive word that fits the values.

❌ Describing a change that isn’t there. Categories compared at a single date do not show an increase or decrease over time.

❌ Using inconsistent tenses. Reread the dates and distinguish past results from projections.

When checking, look at the data and the meaning first. Then correct agreement, articles, prepositions and spelling.

8. How can you practise Task 1 effectively?

You don’t need to write a full answer in every session. Working on the different stages separately helps you understand where your difficulty lies.

Start with analysis and the overview

Choose several visuals. For each one, note the topic, the units and the main features, then write a two-sentence overview.

Compare your selection with the visual: did you pick out a major trend or just one striking figure?

Work on comparisons

Using a table, write a few sentences with whereas, compared with or twice as high as. Then check that the calculations and what they refer to are accurate.

A useful exercise is to rephrase the same comparison in two ways without changing its meaning.

Move on to a timed answer

Here is one possible way to split the 20 minutes:

Adjust these timings to your own pace. Above all, leave enough time to check the word count, the data and any incomplete sentences.

Correct your work with a consistent checklist

After each answer, ask yourself five questions:

1. Have I covered the main features?
2. Is my overview clear?
3. Do my details include useful comparisons?
4. Are my values and units accurate?
5. Which language mistakes keep coming back?

Rewriting a corrected paragraph helps you apply the feedback you received. You can then check that you have taken it on board with another question.

9. Preparing for IELTS with Flow Exam

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Google reviews

Writing Task 1 calls on several skills: selecting information, organising your answer and expressing precise comparisons. Your preparation also needs to leave room for the other sections and for Task 2.

Flow Exam’s IELTS resources help you understand the formats and methods, with guides on the score, Reading, Speaking and Writing Task 2. They let you build sessions around a specific goal.

To work on Task 1, alternate between analysing visuals, writing overviews and timed answers. Keep your corrections so you can spot recurring mistakes and the progress you have made.

Prepare for IELTS with Flow Exam

IELTS Writing Task 1 FAQ

What is the difference between Task 1 Academic and Task 1 General Training?

Task 1 Academic asks you to describe or explain visual information, such as a graph, table, map or process. Task 1 General Training is a letter suited to a situation and a recipient.

How many words do you need to write in Writing Task 1?

Your answer must contain at least 150 words. Writing more is not automatically penalised, but a long answer can cut into the time available for Task 2 and make checking harder. Aim for a complete and precise description.

How long should you spend on Task 1?

Allow about 20 minutes, including analysis and checking. The two Writing tasks share a total of 60 minutes. When practising, try out a split that lets you finish Task 1 without eating too much into Task 2.

What is an overview in IELTS?

The overview summarises the main features of the visual: trends, differences, ranking or changes. It shows what stands out in the data before the detailed description.

Do you have to describe every figure in the graph?

No. Select the figures that support the main features and the relevant comparisons. Starting and end values, extremes and changes in ranking are often useful. Make sure, though, that no important category is left out.

Do you need to write a conclusion in Writing Task 1?

A separate conclusion is not necessary. The overview plays the role of a summary and can be placed after the introduction. The following paragraphs develop the details, and there is no need to repeat the same observations at the end.