How to write IELTS Writing Task 1 and detailed sample essays

Writing Task 1 in the exam IELTS is an important part of assessing the ability to summarize and present information from charts and tables accurately and effectively. To help candidates conquer the exam IELTS Writing easily, this article ETEST English for Study Abroad will introduce details about IELTS Writing Task 1, including sample IELTS Writing essays, common essay types, essay structure and effective test-taking steps.

Overview of IELTS Writing Task 1

IELTS Writing Task 1 is the first part of the IELTS writing test, which consists of two parts: Task 1 and Task 2. In this part, you will be asked to describe and summarize information from a chart, table, process diagram or map.

Here is some basic information about IELTS Writing Task 1:

General requirements of IELTS Writing Task 1

IELTS Writing Task 1 takes about 20 minutes, including reading time. Here are the requirements and description of this part:

Purpose of IELTS Writing Task 1

• Assesses your ability to analyze and describe visual data clearly and accurately.
• Tests the ability to use academic language to summarize and compare information.
• Assesses the ability to organize information logically and coherently.

IELTS Writing Task 1 Scoring Criteria

IELTS Writing Task 1 is assessed based on 4 IELTS Writing scoring criteria (marking criteria) include Task Response, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range & Accuracy, each criterion accounts for 25% points.

Specifically:

Task Response: Candidates must meet the requirements of the question.

Example: “Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words”.

• The keywords you need to know are: selecting, main features, make comparisons, 150 words.
• These words help you understand the requirements of the essay: identify, highlight, highlight, and compare appropriately.
• Articles must be at least 150 words.
• Use formal, academic writing style.

Coherence & Cohesion: The paragraphs in the article should be divided logically and the language in the article should be coherent. Coherence is the connection in terms of ideas, Cohesion is the connection in terms of IELTS grammar and IELTS vocabulary, shown through the use of Linking Verb.

Lexical Resource:

• Use natural, flexible vocabulary.
• Use a variety of vocabulary in your writing.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy:

• Limit spelling errors in your posts
• Use a variety of simple, compound and complex sentences.
• Use correct and flexible grammatical structures and punctuation correctly.

Band Descriptors for IELTS Writing Task 1

IELTS Writing Task 1 Structure

There are 3 parts of content included in the outline, applied to IELTS Writing Task 1:

• Introduction (paragraph 1): Introduce the content
• Overview (paragraph 2): General comments
• Details (paragraph 3): Detailed description

Step-by-step process to get full score in IELTS Writing Task 1 

To write an attractive IELTS Writing essay and get a high score, you should follow these steps when practicing writing:

• Step 1: Prepare before writing: Research, write, and discuss to generate ideas for your article. In this section, you should determine the purpose and target audience of the article to organize your ideas in a reasonable way.
• Step 2: Make a draft: Write your draft. It's important that you put pen to paper and write a complete draft, regardless of the details or perfection of the writing.
• Step 3: Review: Review and evaluate your draft. At this point, you need to pay attention to errors such as layout, writing ideas, vocabulary usage, and sentence structure to correct them for the next time you write.
• Step 4: Edit: In this step, you correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors to complete the article.
• Step 5: Finalize (Publish): Complete your writing by rewriting the complete version and asking others (friends, teachers with expertise, etc.) to evaluate and give feedback to avoid repeating the same mistake a second time.

See more articles: Instructions self-study IELTS Writing effective, confident to get high score

Những bài IELTS Writing Task 1 mẫu phổ biến

In IELTS Writing Task 1, you will be asked to describe and explain a graph or table of data provided. There are 7 common types of questions in Task 1, including: Line Graph, Bar Chart, Pie Chart, Table, Mixed Charts, Process, Maps.

Below are some popular IELTS Writing sample essays:

Line Graph

Line Graph represents time factors. In this type of exercise, we often see changes and trends of one or more objects over a specific period of time. The vertical axis represents data and the horizontal axis represents time points.

Exam: The chart below shows the percentage of Australian people who were born in different places of the world. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Sample IELTS Writing Task 1 for reference:

The line graph illustrates the proportion of Australians born overseas between 1976 and 2011.

Overall, it is apparent that the percentage of those born in the UK witnessed a downward trend while those from Asia and other places were on the rise. In addition, despite a moderate drop throughout most of the period, the total foreign-born population experienced a rising trend in the final decade.

The proportion of British-born Australians started around 15%, which was followed by that of other places (about 11%) and Asia (approximately 3%). Over the following ten years, both the UK and other places saw a falling trend whereas the reverse was true for Australians of Asia descent. From 1986 to 2001, the figures for the UK and Asia continued their respective trends while the percentage of Aussies born in other locations bucked its trend and increased considerably to almost 15%. The first 25 years also recorded a drop from roughly 23% to slightly over 20% in the overseas-born population.

In the 2000s, the percentage of Australian residents born in the UK had a gradual decline before finishing at just below 5%. Meanwhile, the figures for Asia and other places enjoyed increases, going up to high points of about 15% and 13%, respectively. There was also a significant rise in the figure for the total population to a peak of 25% in 2011.

Vocabulary:

• foreign-born/overseas-born population of Australia: the group of Australian residents born overseas
• to be of Asian descent: to be of Asian descent
• continue one's trend: continue one's trend
• buck one's trend: buck one's trend

See also: Sample IELTS Writing Task 1 Line Graph

Bar Chart 

Bar Chart represents data to compare or show changes of many objects at a certain time. The chart is shown in the form of a column, with a vertical axis and a horizontal axis. In addition, the column chart also has a stacked, horizontal form (but the content shown does not change).

Exam: The bar chart below shows the number of visitors to four London museums. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Sample IELTS Writing Task 1 for reference:

The bar chart compares the number of visits to four museums in London in five different months, namely June, July, August, September, and December. It is clear that the British Museum almost always leads in popularity, whereas the National Museum was the least prevalent choice for visitors in these months. In addition, visitor numbers fluctuated over time, with August seeing the highest visitor volume in all these sites apart from the Science Museum.

In the first two months, there were hardly any changes in the popularity of the four places such as the History Museum, the British Museum and the Science Museum received about 400,000 visits each, while visitor numbers to the National Museum hovered around 200,000.

However, the remaining months witnessed more remarkable changes, with the figures for the History Museum, the British Museum, and the National Museum soaring in August to peak at 600,000 visits, roughly 710,000 visits and slightly above 300,000 visits, respectively, before dropping significantly in September and December. Meanwhile, there was no change in the number of visitors to the Science Museum in August, which was followed by a marked rise to a high of 500,000 in September and a noticeable fall to merely 300,000 in December. It is worth noting that visitor traffic to both the History Museum and the National Museum was also lowest in the last month, at only 200,000 visits, more or less.

Vocabulary:

• To lead in popularity: to lead in popularity.
• To be the least prevalent choice: to be the least common choice.
• There were hardly any changes: there were hardly any changes.
• To hover around: to hover near a value.
• Merely (adverb): used similarly to “only” – to emphasize a small value/number in the case of this article.
• Visitor traffic (noun): traffic to a location or traffic to a website.

Pie Chart

Pie Chart consists of percentages of many objects. Or represents the percentage of components of an object. Usually, a pie chart will have 2 or more objects. This chart can have a time element, representing each specific object.

Exam: The charts show the percentage of people working in different sectors in town A and B in two years, 1960 and 2010. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Sample IELTS Writing Sample:

The pie charts provide information on the proportion of people with jobs in three sectors, namely manufacturing, sales, and services, in two towns in 1960 and 2010.

Overall, it is clear that the manufacturing sector witnessed a significant increase in both towns A and town B over the 50-year period. There was also a decline in the proportion of people working in sales in both towns.

In 1960, town A's workforce was more evenly distributed than town B's which was more concentrated in the sales sector. More specifically, while two-thirds of the workforce in town A work in either manufacturing or services, sales workers in town B accounted for a massive 72%. This figure was almost double the percentage of those with sales-related jobs in town A (41%).

By 2010, manufacturing had become the dominant sector in town A with a hefty 64% of workers and had tripled to nearly a quarter of the labor force in town B. In contrast, the figures for sales in town A and B dropped to 20% and 54%, respectively. In addition, while the percentage of town A's workers with service-related jobs halved to 16% in 2010, the figure for town B rose slightly from 20% to 22%.

Vocabulary:

• the workforce/ labor force: the workforce
• distribute (v): distribute
• dominant (adj): overwhelming, superior

Table (Data table)

Table (data) Shows data related to each specific object or category. This format uses the Language of Comparison and the Language of Change – a language that describes change (if there are two or more time points) and expresses data similar to a chart. Data tables can be transformed into a variety of different chart formats.

Exam: The table below shows daily oil production in 4 countries from 2000 to 2004.

Sample IELTS Writing Task 1 for reference:

The table compares the number of barrels of oil produced in a single day in four African countries, namely Nigeria, Chad, Congo, and Somalia between 2000 and 2004. As can be seen, all countries witnessed an upward trend in their daily oil output, except for Congo. Noticeably, despite seeing the most rapid growth rate over 5 years, Chad remains one of the two smallest producers.

To begin with, there was a switch in ranks between Nigeria and Congo whose daily oil volume far outnumbered the other countries'. In 2000, Congo led in production, at 275,000 barrels whereas Nigeria only produced 205,000 barrels per day. However, in 2004, Nigeria overtook Congo to rank first with 213,000 barrels being produced in a single day, 10,000 barrels more than the figure for Congo.

However, the daily oil production in the other two countries was insignificant. specifically, 5000 barrels was the figure for Somalia in 2000, which then saw a steady rise until 2004 when it grew more than two-fold to reach 50,000 barrels per day. As for Chad, not until 2003 did this country record its very first 8000 barrels of crude oil produced on a daily basis and this amount surged to finish at an equal level of production to Somalia's in the last year.

Vocabulary:

• oil output (noun): oil output
• a switch in ranks (noun): a change in rank
• oil volume (noun): oil production
• outnumber (verb): higher in value, quantity, number.
• to lead in production (verb): to lead in production
• overtake (verb): to surpass in value and take the place of someone/something.
• record (verb): to record
• surge (verb): to increase dramatically
• level of production (noun): level of production/ output.

Mixed Charts

Mixed Charts are made up of the above types of exercises. Common pairs are pie charts – data tables, pie charts – bar charts. The charts all have certain relationships, you need to recognize and present them in the introduction of the article.

Exam: The table and pie chart gives information about the population in Australia according to different nationalities and areas. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant

Sample IELTS Writing Task 1 for reference:

The pie chart illustrates the proportion of people of different nationalities in Australia while the table shows their whereabouts.

Overall, the majority of the population has Australian nationality. It is also apparent that people mostly reside in urban areas.

According to the pie chart, a hefty 73% of people living in Australia are Australians. This is followed by the figure for those who hold other nationalities (14%), which is twice as much as that for people of British origin (7%). The remaining groups only account for a minority of the population, with New Zealanders including 3%, the Chinese occupying 2% and the Dutch making up 1%.

Regarding the table, it is evident that an overwhelming proportion of residents in Australia are city dwellers regardless of their nationality. Almost all Chinese people, New Zealanders and British people live in cities, at 99%, 90% and 89%, respectively. Likewise, the figures for people of Australian and Dutch descent also show a preference for urban areas, with a ratio of around 8 urbanites to 2 country dwellers.

Vocabulary:

• whereabouts (n): places to live
• urban areas: urban areas, urban
• a city dweller = an urbanite (n): a person who lives in a city
• a country dweller: a person who lives in the countryside

Process

There are 2 processes in the Process format:

• Natural Process (natural process): Describes the process of development, growth, evolution and characteristics of each stage of an organism.
• Man – Made Process (artificial process): Describes the process of producing, manufacturing, recycling objects, products, working mechanisms of systems and machines under human influence.

Exam: The picture shows the process of making wool. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Sample IELTS Writing Task 1 for reference:

The diagram illustrates how wool is produced for both personal and industrial use. Generally, it is clear that there are various steps involved, beginning with the sheep being sheared and ending with the woolen yarns being knitted or woven into commercially made jackets and carpets.

The process begins when the sheep are sheared for their fleece. Once the collective amount of fleece is cleaned with water and chemicals to get rid of contaminants such as grease, twigs, dried sweat, and other debris, it is taken to a drying machine. Following this, the fleece is carded, which results in tufts of wool and pieces of string as byproducts, with the latter being reintroduced into the process to maximize productivity.

Then, woolen tufts are sent to a warehouse for storage before being spun into balls of yarn. In the last stage, these yarn balls are sold for either individual pastimes, like knitting, or the commercial purpose of making jackets or carpets.

Vocabulary:

• Shear (v): to cut sheep's wool
• Weave (v): weave
• Fleece (n): sheep's wool
• Collective amount (n): collective amount
• Contaminant (n): impurity
• Grease (n): grease
• Twig (n): small tree branch
• dry sweat: dry sweat
• Debris (n): debris
• Card (v): card
• Tuft of wool: tuft of wool
• String (n): yarn, thread
• Byproduct (n): by-product in the production process
• Reintroduce (v): to introduce again
• Spin (v): to spin
• Ball of yarn (n): ball of yarn
• Pastime (n): pastime
• Commercial purpose (n): commercial purpose

Refer to how to conquer the PROCESS/CYCLE form in the IELTS test:

Maps

Maps In IELTS Writing Task 1, you are usually given about 2-3 maps of specific areas, building layouts, facilities and accommodation at different times.

Exam: The maps below show the changes in the art gallery ground floor in 2005 and the present day. Summarize the information by selecting the main features, and make comparisons.

Sample IELTS Writing Task 1 for reference:

The maps reveal some changes taking place to the layout of an art gallery's ground floor between 2005 and the present day.

In general, while the eastern part of the gallery has remained more or less intact over time, the opposite side has transformed significant transformations, with the whole area becoming more accessible for the disabled.

Originally, the gallery was designed merely for its exhibition purpose and visitors could enter the hall through the entrance in the south of the building. Inside the hall, there was a reception desk to welcome visitors, which led to a staircase in the north end. The remaining part simply consists of functional areas with a set of 3 exhibition rooms on the eastern wing, one large exhibition space together with an office taking up the entire southwestern corner, and a cafe in the northwest.

At present, the location has become modernized and versatile, providing more facilities for visitors, especially with the addition of a wheelchair slope right outside the entrance to the west and a lift next to the stairs. To the west, exhibition room 4 was converted into a children's indoor playground and one smaller room for temporary display, while a gallery shop and a vending machine were opened in place of the original gallery office and the cafe. The final alteration that happened was the relocation of the reception towards the entrance of the gallery.

Vocabulary:

• Layout (N – C1): layout
• Intact (Adj – C1): intact
• Transformation (N – C1): complete transformation
• Accessible (Adj – C1): accessible
• Merely (Adv – C1): only (same as only)
• The eastern wing (N – B1): refers to the eastern wing area of a building.
• Entire (Adj – B2): completely
• Versatile (Adj – C2): versatile, flexible
• Convert into (V – B2): convert into
• In place of (Phrase – B2): in place of something
• Alteration (N – C1): change

Refer to how to conquer the MAP format in the IELTS test:

How to write IELTS Writing Task 1 in detail for each type of essay

Before starting to do IELTS Writing Task 1, you need to answer the following questions:

• What does the chart show?
• Represents several objects and categories?
• How many time points does the chart have?fb
• What tense should the writer use?
• Does the chart have a trend?
• What is a unit chart?

How to write an Introduction

There are several ways to write an Introduction in IELTS Writing Task 1, these should be used in combination:

• Express it differently.

After understanding the message of the topic, the next step is to develop the essay. You should write Introduction Task 1 by paraphrasing – expressing the topic differently but still keeping the original meaning.

Example: The line graph below shows the consumption of fish and different kinds of meat in a European country between 1979 and 2004.

• Change the verbs that appear in the question

In The graph/chart/table/diagram there will be a requirement: shows/ illustrates/ gives information about/on/ provides information about/on/ compares (if there are two or more objects). You should change the verbs that appear in the question, do not reuse words like below, above in the article.

Example: The line graph below shows the consumption of fish and different kinds of meat in a European country between 1979 and 2004”.

→ The line graph illustrated the consumption of fish and different kinds of meat in a European country between 1979 and 2004.

• Use the structure: How something changed

Apply structure How something changed in the form of an article with two or more time points.

Example: The line graph below shows the consumption of fish and different kinds of meat in a European country between 1979 and 2004.

→ The line graph illustrates how the consumption of fish and different kinds of meat in a European country changed between 1979 and 2004.

• Replace the content phrase in the question by using synonyms or rephrasing it.

Example: The line graph below shows the consumption of fish and different kinds of meat in a European country between 1979 and 2004.

→ The line graph illustrates the amount of fish and various types of meat consumed in a European nation between 1979 and 2004.

• Replace the time phrases in the question with prepositions

Example: The line graph below shows the consumption of fish and different kinds of meat in a European country between 1979 and 2004.

→ The line graph illustrates the amount of fish and various types of meat consumed in a European nation from 1979 to 2004/over 25 years.

In addition, if the question only gives one year (in 2004), it can be paraphrased as (in the year 2004).

How to write an Overview

Overview is an important part of IELTS Writing Task 1. Candidates can use the following words for the introduction:

• Overall/ In general
• As can be seen from the graph/chart
• It is apparent/ clear that

Overview of Line Graph, Bar Chart, Pie Chart, Table, Mixed Charts

When practicing writing Overview Task 1 for the above types, you need to carefully observe the chart and find about 2 important features of that chart.

In the form of a time series, indicate changes and trends over the given period. Questions should be asked to identify key features:

• How many time periods does the chart have, is there a trend?
• Which object changed the most?
• Which point on the graph is the highest and lowest?
• Is there a significant difference between subjects?
• With Mixed Charts, what is the relationship between these charts?

Process Overview

You must state the number of steps or stages in the process, the initial and final steps/stages when writing a Process Overview in IELTS Writing Task 1.

The following structures can be used:

• There + be + … steps/stages/phases (involved)
  Example:
  As can be seen in the picture, there are nine steps involved in the process of recycling plastic bottles, beginning with bottles being thrown out and finishing with end products being made.
• The process + be + composed of/comprised (included) … steps/stages/phases
  Example:
  As can be seen in the picture, the process of recycling plastic bottles is composed of nine steps, beginning with bottles being thrown out and finishing with end products being made.

Overview of Maps

For this type, you need to highlight important changes in the given area or facility.

Example: The development of the village of Ryemouth.

Overview: It is obvious that the village of Ryemouth has contained some major changes, with the most noticeable one being the construction of sports areas, the addition of more housing facilities, and the demolition of the fishing port.

How to write Detail

Here are some tips for effective Detail implementation:

• Details can be deployed by category, object with value from high to low or in chronological order.
• For change/trend types of questions, you can group details by similar movements/trends or group details by time for easy comparison.
• Group similar details across categories for types of questions that have only one time point or no time element.
• Describe each paragraph with a chart using the Mixed Charts format with 2 charts.
• Divide the steps/stages in the Process into two paragraphs.
• For Maps exercises, they should be divided by: Area, similar types of changes, similar components.
• In particular: Specific figures should be given (if available), specific times should be given (if available) and linking words or phrases should be used.

Link to download full collection of IELTS Writing Task 1 sample essays: HERE

Common mistakes when doing IELTS Writing Task 1

Pay attention to the following "seemingly small but not small" issues, don't let yourself lose points in IELTS Writing task 1 because of unworthy things.

• Wrong unit: It is necessary to distinguish between words like “Percent”, “Percentage”, “Proportion”, “Rate” and “Ratio” and the following prepositions to use appropriately.

• Using incorrect words: IELTS Writing Task 1 Vocabulary need to be precise and appropriate to academic writing style. Using inappropriate words will reduce the persuasiveness of the writing.

• Paraphrasing, Overview is not clear: You need to know how to paraphrase well, present a clear Overview of the main trends, differences or stages to be able to improve your score in IELTS Writing Task 1.
• Tense error: Pay attention to using the correct tense in the test by recognizing the relevant signs and checking whether the data displayed on the test is accompanied by time markers.

Above is the summary of the whole IELTS Writing Task 1 sample essays and how to write detailed articles ETEST English for Study Abroad has been compiled to help you review effectively. To get the exam IELTS Writing Task 1 High scores are a process of trying, striving, cultivating and practicing. You will progress faster if you have good teachers who are dedicated to imparting knowledge and closely following your learning progress.

If you are wondering about choosing a reputable center to accompany you during the review process, IELTS practice, ETEST Study Abroad English is the leading IELTS test preparation location.

ETEST English for Study Abroad Confident with practical knowledge, teachers graduated from the world's leading universities with many years of experience teaching IELTS, test preparation experience and having been IELTS examiners, always dedicated to sharing with students. IELTS learning roadmap, IELTS Writing practice materials with multidimensional and novel perspectives - this is an especially important factor to help IELTS Writing Task 1 achieve high scores. The IELTS test preparation program and curriculum are compiled according to Cambridge test standards, which will help students follow the actual test closely and achieve the score they desire.

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