IELTS Writing Workshop

Academic Task 1

By Emel Ortac

Task 1

1/3 of total writing mark

Min 150 words (no maximum)

101-141 words = -1 TA

51-100 words = -2 TA

0-50 words = -3 TA

Ideal time to spend: 20 minutes

Task 1

Writing a report based on a given graph, diagram or process.

Things to consider: varying vocabulary and grammatical structures, being careful not to include opinions, organising information into coherent paragraphs, not only focusing on details but also “the big picture”, finding suitable comparisons and/or contrasts between given data.

Things to Focus on: Graphs

Planning:

Interpeting the given data

Choosing relevant details (draw/underline/circle them!)

Paraphrasing the given sentence(s)

Synonyms, different grammatical structure, add/omit words

Words that are copy-pasted directly with no sign of change will not be counted!

Choosing something general for the “overall” statement

What is an “Overall” Statement?

Quite literally it means a piece of information that can be seen (sometimes quite obviously upon first glance) and is generally true for the given graph/diagram/map.

This is marked under TA, so there should be some general statement either at the beginning or end of Task 1.

The information follows a phrase.

Example:

“Overall, what stands out from the graph is there was a gradual upward trend in the number of visitors of the National Gallery, which became the most popular museum from being at last place, while the Victoria and Albert Museum followed the opposite trend. ” Ta

ken f

rom

: htt

p:/

/ww

w.ielt

s-w

riti

ng.info

/

Things to Focus on: Graphs

Vertical/horizontal axis

Highest/lowest points, periods of stability

Similarities/differences

Trend vocabulary

Significant vs slight changes Ta

ken f

rom

: htt

ps:

//w

ww

.ielt

s-exam

.net

Things to Focus on: Pie Charts

Take

n f

rom

: htt

p:/

/ww

w.d

cielt

s.co

m/

Fractions

Paraphrasing: The language of numbers

Trends

Time references

Things to Focus on: Tables

Similarities/differences

Paraphrasing: The language of numbers

Trends

Titles

Take

n f

rom

: IE

LTS E

xpre

ss U

pper-

Inte

rmedia

te

Things to Focus on: Bar Graphs

Trends

Time references

Similarities/differences

Titles

Vertical/horizontal axis

Take

n f

rom

: IE

LTS E

xpre

ss U

pper-

Inte

rmedia

te

Things to Focus on: Diagrams

Titles, given words/phrases

Similarities/differences

Paragraphing

Things to add, expanding given words/terms

Passive voice

Take

n f

rom

: htt

ps:

//w

ww

.ielt

s-si

mon.c

om

Things to Focus on: ProcessesTitles, given

words/phrases

Paragraphing

Things to add, expanding given words/terms

Order words

Passive voice

Take

n f

rom

: htt

ps:

//w

ww

.ielt

swit

hm

iryana.w

ord

pre

ss.c

om

Things to Focus on: Maps

Take

n f

rom

: htt

p:/

/lpara

monov.

blo

g.c

om

/

Similarities/differences

Paragraphing

Passive voice

Including given details (key, direction, geographical features)