In the IELTS Academic exam, the first task of the Writing section will have one or more graphs, tables, maps, or flowcharts, and you will need to summarize the information, compare data from these graphs, show differences or similarities, identify major trends or describe the process.
You will have to write at least 150 words. It is recommended to spend 20 minutes on writing the answer to this task. How should one describe factual data from a diagram to avoid assumptions, even if these are well-known facts? How to write so that the reader (examiner) can easily trace the trends of the chart and understand the actual information about the chart? This will be discussed further.
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Step 1. Read the task carefully.
The instructions for the task always contain a short sentence summarizing the information (the prompt). Also, graphs usually have a name. Read these things first, because they give a pretty good overview of what the visuals contain. Usually they are in bold. This summarized information will be very useful for writing the first paragraph of your answer where you need to “introduce” the visuals.
Step 2. Analyze the visuals.
Before you begin describing the graphs right away, look them carefully and analyze them: look for general trends, changes, and key features to understand how you are going to structure your information. You also have to choose which information to leave out and which to include in the response. Make a note of it.
Try to find an interesting angle to look at a table or graph. You can start simply. Can you see if the time is shown in the graph? If so, is the time represented in hours, days, weeks, months, etc.? Does the graph show any trends: rise, fall, fluctuations, etc.? The line can lead up or down, or the pie chart sections will have different sizes. Do you notice any sequence of events or steps in the process?
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For example, in the flowchart. Do the visuals classify different types of things? This happens in tables or pie charts. Are the numbers written in the hundreds, thousands, millions, percentages, decimal numbers? And so on.
Another way to approach the visuals is to imagine you had to do a report at a meeting or speak at a university seminar, what information would be most relevant to your audience?
Step 3. Structure your response.
After you have considered all the possible trends shown in the graph or chart, start writing your answer. We recommend structuring it as follows:
If you find that you do not have enough information to write 150 words, describe in detail everything that has changed in trends and add data from a graph or table.
On the other hand, if you have too much information to fit in 150-200 words, try to pick only the most important trends.
Step 4. Check what you have written.
Be sure to check your response for spelling and grammar errors. Also, check with the visuals and make sure the information you used is accurate.
Don’t forget to use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions and other linking devices to make the text you write look coherent. Remember about tenses in sentences. Use synonyms and appropriate vocabulary (academic).
Step 5. Allocate your time properly.
Proper timing is a guarantee that on the day of the exam, you will not worry and have time to do everything. Therefore, as you prepare for the exam, keep track of how long it takes you to complete the task. Get a mock test closer to the exam date. It would be nice if you fit into the following time frame:
- Reading the instructions and planning the response: 3 – 5 minutes
- Writing the text: 10 – 15 minutes.
- Proofreading and editing: 3-5 minutes
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