IELS Writing Task 1 (Second Revision)

Writing Task 1 is one of the most challenging things to do in IELTS test. There are several IELTS Writing Task 1 materials posted on this website. This post aims to provide the revised version of the previous materials posted here. Take a look at a bar graph below!

IELTS Writing Task 1 Bar Graph


Remember that there are several stages of doing IELTS Writing Task 1, explained as follows:

1. Making an Overview

Overview gives a very general information regarding the graph. There are two things that you need to when making an Overview, which are:

a. Introducing the Graph

To explain the bar graph above, then you will write: The bar graph shows/explains/describes/illustrates/indicates/presents...[b]. You may notice that the words show, explain, describe, illustrate, indicate and present actually mean the same. When doing IELTS Writing Task 1, you have to avoid any repetitive use of certain words.

b. Paraphrasing the Original Title

After introducing the graph, you need to paraphrase the original title. Take a look at the title of the bar graph above. It says:

  • Different types of transportation chosen to go to work and return from work in one European City


You have to paraphrase that original title so that it looks like this:

  • Various modes of transport used to go to and from work in a City of Europe


After introducing the graph and paraphrasing the original title, you will get your first sentence, which looks like this:

  • The bar graph shows various modes of transport used to go to and from work in a City of Europe.



2. Explainin the Main Feature

Main Feature presents the kind of information which will appear in your writing. In the bar graph above, you can find the Main Feature in the abscissa (x) which explains types of transport, ordinate (y) which explains the percentage of the commuters. You also have information outside the x and y which explains the year. Hence,there are three Main Features which you need to explain, and you can write them down as follows:

  • There are four methods of transport presented in the graph, which include bus, car, train and subway. The graph also explains the proportion of the users in the year of 1960, 1980 and 2000.


Note
Notice how I paraphrased some of the words that have been used in the first sentence in order to avoid repeating the same words over and over again.

  • The word "transportation" is replaced by "modes of transport", and "methods of transport"
  • The word "show" is replaced by "present" and "explain"
  • The phrase "percentage of commuters" which appears in the original graph is replaced by the phrase "the proportion of the users"

Note
Information regarding "year" is very important in IELTS Writing Task 1, because it will determine the kind of Tense you use in your writing. In the sample bar graph, the years are 1960, 1980 and 2000 which means that we need to use Past Tense. If there is no information regarding year in the graph, then Simple Present Tense is used. There is also a possibility of explaining data in form of future projection and in this case, we will have to use the Future Tense. For example:

  • The population in China will always increase over years, or...
  • Population in China is predicted to increase over years, or...
  • It is estimated that the population in China will increase over years, or...
  • Population in China is projected to increase over years.




3. Explaining the Main Trend
Main Trend will help us arrange our idea for body paragraph 1 and 2. There are different trend which may appear in a graph, such as: increase/decrease, upward/downward trend, constant/fluctuating, dan lain sebagainya. In the case of bar graph above, you will use Trend Constant dan Fluctuating trend. Take a look at an illustration below!

IELTS Writing Task 1 - Constant Trend Increase and Decrease
IELTS Writing Task 1 - FluctuatingTrend

In the first paragraph, you have to explain the arrangement of ideas based on the trend, for example:

  • The data indicates that the proportion of people who use cars experienced a constant growth, while the number of bus passengers witnessed a gradual decrease. The percentage of people taking train and subway are fluctuating


Note
Notice that I also paraphrase the use of words "users" and "percentage".

  • Percentage: Proportion/number
  • Users: Commuters/People who use/People using/People who take/People taking/People who choose/People choosing/passengers/People who commute using/People who commute by using/People commuting by

When working on body paragraph 1 dan 2, you can arrange your ideas as follows:

  • Paragraph 2: Car and Bus (constant trend)
  • Paragraph 3: Train and Subway (fluctuating trend)



4. Writing Body Paragraph 1 and Body Paragraph 2
a. Starting Point
In 1960, bus had the highest number of commuters, making up around 39%. The number witnessed a gradual decline and by the end of the period, shrinked to around 15% only. Car indicates different trend. At the beginning of the period, the proportion of car users was just a little below 5%. It witnessed a sudden leap forty years later, and reached its peak point of an estimated 38%.


There are two things that are important to note from an example above. First, we have to avoid explaining year in a monotonous way, since it can significantly reduce our grade. For every year that appears in the graph, you can paraphrase it as follows:
  • 1960: at the beginning of the period, in the first period, in the year of 1960
  • 1980: in the second period, twenty years later atau two decades later (relative to 1960), in the year of 1980
  • 2000: at the end of the period, in the last period, forty years later atau four decades later (relative to 1960), in the year of 2000

Secondly, we have to pay attention to the use of Exact Number and Approximation when explaining the number/percentage. Take a look at an illustration below!

IELTS Writing Task 1 Exact Number and Approximation
In the case of bar a and b, we can be sure that they are at 5 dan 10, so it wouldn't be difficult for us to explain. The bar c, however, is at a point between 5 dan 10, which means that you might not be sure what number to write.


To explain exact point/number, use these words:

  • account for, comprise, represent, make up, contribute, etc.

Otherwise, you the approximation instead

  • (of) around, (of) about, (of) approximately, of an estimated, roughly, etc.
b. Explaining Increase and Decrease
Other than the use of years, you need to use various ways of explaining increase and increase. There are four ways of doing this, explained as follows:


Point achieved

We can explain a point achieved by a data. For instance, we can explain the number of us users in the year of 1960 until the year of 2000 as follows:

In 1960, bus had the highest number of commuters, making up around 39%. The number witnessed a gradual decline and by the end of the period, shrinked to around 15% only


Look at the highlighted words! These words explain the percentage of users reached by bus in 1960 (around 39%) and 2000 (around 15%).



Difference

You can also use the difference between data in two different years. For instance, when we explain the declining number of bus passengers, it will probably look like this:


In 1960, bus had the highest number of commuters, making up around 39%. The number witnessed 24% decline forty years later



Take a look at the highlighted words. Instead of explaining the percentage of bus passengers , it explains the change on the number of the people taking bus. To explain such change, we usually use words like witness, experience or undergo.



Multiplication 

Multiplication can only be used when the data indicates an upward trend. For instance, we can explain the growth of car users as follows:


At the beginning of the period, the proportion of car users was just a little below 5%. It witnessed a steady growth and by the year of 2000, the number quadrupled.



Take a look at the highlighted words. Here, I use multiplication to explain the growth of the number of people using cars.



Try to remember information below!


Multiplied by
The Verb version
or simply put it like this
1
Single
-
2
Double
Two times higher
3
Triple
Three times higher
4
Quadruple
Four times higher
5
Quintuple
Five times higher




Fraction
The last way of explaining increase and decrease is by using fraction. If I explain the increasing number of car users, it will look like this:


At the beginning of the period, the proportion of car users was just a little below 5%. The number increased by more than a half in the second period, before it reached its highest point of an estimated 38% in 2000.

Take a look at the highlighted words. Here I said that the number was increasing by a half, so the fraction "a half" was used.

Now, try to remember this!


Number
Increased by
Decreased by
1/2
a half
a half
1/3
one third
one third
1/4
a quarter
a quarter
3/4
three quarter
three quarter
1/5
one fifth
one fifth



These are the fractions which are often used in IELTS Writing Task 1.  Denominator 2 and 4 are always written as "a half" and "a quarter", and hence:


1/2=a half
7/2=3,5=three and a half (simplified)
1/4=a quarter
3/4=three quarter
5/4=1,25= one and a quarter


Other than denominator 2 and 4, this rule will apply:



numerator=use cardinal number

denominator=use ordinal number


...hence...



1/5=one fifth

1/6=one sixth
2/7=two seventh


and so on and so forth



Note

A data might experience a significant or slight change, and thus, you have to use this rule:


If it's just a slight change, use these Adverb/Adjective:


  • slightly increase/experiences a slight increase
  • mildly decrease/experiences a mild decrease
  • modestly increase/experience a modest increase

If it's a significant change, use these Adverb/Adjective:
  • significantly increase/experiences a significant increase
  • considerably decrease/experiences a considerable decrease
  • dramatically increase/experience a dramatic increase
  • drastically increase
  • or use these words instead: plummet, shrink, sink, dip, drop (downward trend)
  • or these words leap, climb, surge, soar, skyrocket (upward trend)
The complete Writing Task 1 for the bar graph above will look like this:

The bar graph shows various modes of transport used to go to and from work in a City of Europe. There are four methods of transport presented in the graph, which include bus, car, train and subway. The graph also explains the proportion of the users in the year of 1960, 1980 and 2000. The data indicates that the proportion of people who use cars experienced a constant growth, while the number of bus passengers witnessed a gradual decrease. The percentage of people taking train and subway are fluctuating.

In 1960, bus had the highest number of commuters, making up around 39%. The number witnessed a gradual decline and by the end of the period, shrinked to around 15% only. Car indicates different trend. At the beginning of the period, the proportion of car users was just a little below 5%. The number increased by more than a half in the second period, before it reached its highest point of an estimated 38% in 2000.


Train passengers represented roughly one fifth of the whole transportation users. It experienced 9% growth in the following period, although the number slightly decreased again in the year of 2000. In 1960, the proportion of people who commuted by subway accounted for more than one third of the total commuters. The number shrinked to around 21% two decades later. In 2000, it contributed around 22% of total commuters.


Note

  • Be objective. Writing Task 1 can never contain information which is not included in the picture. Take a look at this example: The number of bus passengers decreases over years because it is not convenient to commute by bus. The highlighted words contain my personal opinion which cannot be found in the graph
  • Do not give too detailed information. Focus on some interesting information in the graph (highest percentage, lowest percentage, data with the exact same percentage, etc,)

Learn IELTS Writing Task 1 vocabulary here

and here

Several samples of IELTSWriting Task 1 , can be found in the right sidebar.


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