IELTS Writing Task 1 - Tips for Combined Graph

IELTS Writing Task 1 can be quite challenging since you are expected to understand graphs, charts, or the combination of the two. Combined graph has its own level of difficulty. Take a look at a combined graph below.

IELTS Writing Task 1 - Tips for Combined Graph




In many cases of Writing Task 1, we might have different ways of arranging ideas. As I have explained in the previous material, the organization of ideas for body paragraph 1 and 2 is determined by the major trend. Sometimes, there is not much information presented in one part of the graph, and this eventually results in the paragraph being not proportional. Take a look at the first sample writing below. I divided the writing based on the graph, so that it becomes like this:


Arrangement of Ideas (1) - Pie Charts and Bar Graphs

Paragraph 1: Overview
Paragraph 2: Body paragraph 1 (Pie charts)
Paragraph 3: Body paragraph 2 (Bar graphs)



The length of the second and the third paragraph end up being not proportional. There is too much information in paragraph 3. The third paragraph is way too long and the second paragraph is too short, and this is ugly.


The pie charts present the proportion of male and female people seized by the legal authority in a five year period starting from 1990. The bar graphs describe several reasons why people were arrested. In general, there were more male persons getting arrested than female persons. The most common reason of arrest of both male and female persons was public drinking.

The two pie charts explain the number of recent arrest based on gender, and indicates that there were more men being involved in illegal activities, making up nearly a third of the whole male population. In contrary, the proportion of women being taken into custody was a little 10%.

Drink driving was the main reason why females were apprehended, representing around 37%. Assault and jaywalking were the second most common reasons why females were arrested, making up nearly one fifth of the whole female population. The percentage of other violations of law like breaking and entering, petty theft and speeding were all below 15%. Around 7% of the female population did not give any answer. Similar to female's case, a significant number of male citizens were detained because of drink driving, making up around 31%. The number of men being arrested because of speeding was considerably high, representing more than a quarter of male population. The proportion of men being detained for petty theft, jay walking and breaking and entering were higher than female's. However, there were fewer men not answering the questions.




So, I was trying to find another way of explaining the graphs. I tried to arrange the idea based on the gender instead. Below is the result of the re-arrangement of ideas:



The pie charts present the proportion of male and female people seized by the legal authority in a five year period starting from 1990. The bar graphs describe several reasons why people were arrested. In general, there were more male persons getting arrested than female persons. The most common reason of arrest of both male and female persons was public drinking.

The two pie charts explain the number of recent arrest based on gender, and indicates that there were more men being involved in illegal activities, making up nearly a third of the whole male population. The bar graph shows that a significant number of male citizens were detained because of drink driving, making up around 31%. The number of men being arrested because of speeding was considerably high, representing more than a quarter of male population. The proportion of men being detained for breaking and entering, petty theft, and jaywalking were higher than female's. However, there were fewer men not answering the questions.


Unlike men's case, the proportion of women being taken into custody was very small, just a little below 10%. Drink driving was the main reason why females were apprehended, representing around 37%. Assault and jaywalking were the second most common reasons why females were arrested, making up nearly one fifth of the whole female population. The percentage of other violations of law like petty theft, speeding and breaking and entering were all below 15%. Around 7% of the female population did not give any answer. 






The ideas of the sample writing above are arranged this way:


Arrangement of Ideas (1) - Male and Female

Paragraph 1: Overview
Paragraph 2: Body paragraph 1 (male case)
Paragraph 3: Body paragraph 2 (female case)


As we can see, the paragraphs in the second writing sample are more proportional. The body paragraph 1 and 2 are neither too long nor too short. The ideas are well-organized. It is okay to use both the first and the second arrangement, just make sure that you meet all the four grading criteria in IELTS Writing Task 1.

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