IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The IELTS writing test consists of two tasks, the first of which differs for the academic and general training versions of the exam. For information about the general training task 1, click here.
Test Format
For IELTS academic, in writing task 1 you are provided with some data which you are expected to write about. The data could be represented in a number of ways, including:
- a line graph
- a bar or column chart
- a table
- one or more pie chart(s)
- a combination of two of the above
- 2 or 3 maps or plans
- a process
You should write at least 150 words to describe the important features of the data and make comparisons where necessary. There is no upper limit to how many words you can write. However, writing too much will eat into your time for writing task two while also potentially affecting the coherence of your response.
Question Types
Click on the different question types below to see a full guide on how to answer such a question.
Scoring
The IELTS academic writing task 1 is graded accorded to four criteria:
- Task achievement – essentially, how well you have answered the question.
- Coherence and cohesion – whether your writing makes sense logically in the connections within and between sentences.
- Lexical resource – in other words, the width and depth of your vocabulary.
- Grammatical range and accuracy – whether you know more complex structures and are able to use them appropriately.
For a more in-depth look at the IELTS scoring, click here.
General Hints
The following tips are useful regardless of how the information is being displayed:
- Before writing, spend a minute looking at the data. Try to understand what is going on.
- Start by paraphrasing the description of the diagram. Do not copy this description.
- When using data from any of the charts or table, be sure to include any units and use language to approximate if unsure of the exact number.
- Use words from maps and pictures but remember not to capitalise words that appear mid sentence (unless they are proper nouns) and consider changing the form of some of them (e.g. from noun to verb).
- Do not include any information in the conclusion that doesn’t come from the chart(s) or diagram(s).
